Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I want to find love," Adrien says into the camera with a little smile. "Growing up in the spotlight, people haven't always seen me for who I am. I want someone who sees me first rather than my face or my name or my celebrity. I just know my future wife is out there and I'm going to find her."

"Okay, Adrien, that's great," Claude says from his place next to the camera man. "You can head back to the boys' room."

Adrien smiles to cover up his nerves as he slips out of the confessional room and out into the hallway.

He's probably crazy to be doing this. Not probably—he is crazy. A reality TV show? One where he's expected to fall in love and propose without even seeing his future wife first? It's ridiculous. 

But...

He's twenty-six years old. He's tired of being unlucky in love (just like he is in everything else—curse of the black cat). It's getting harder to believe his life is going to turn out the way he dreamed it would when he was fourteen. 

Most of his friends are on that path. Married or living together or otherwise in serious, committed relationships. They've started their careers or are finishing up their education. They have it together. They know what they want out of life. 

And he's still stuck. 

Hawkmoth may have disappeared five years ago, but there was no final battle, no victory. The akumas just stopped one day. 

When a whole year had gone by without an attack, Chat Noir had hopefully approached Ladybug about finally revealing their identities. But no, she said. She didn't trust that Hawkmoth was gone for good. Maybe he was biding his time. Maybe he was training a successor. Didn't he remember Timetagger? There was clearly a Hawkmoth in the future and they needed to be prepared for that. It was still too dangerous. 

He'd acquiesced and they still kept in contact through semi-regular patrols, but it had hurt. 

It wasn't Ladybug's fault. She didn't know how desperately he needed someone. 

Adrien's father had never been particularly warm. When his mother disappeared, he drew in on himself in his grief, and Adrien saw his father less and less. After the first year, he’d started venturing out again, and Adrien had thought he was making progress. 

And then Nathalie got sick. For the first several months, he seemed much as he ever was. But the more her condition deteriorated, the less time—or patience—he had for Adrien. And then she was gone. Adrien has never understood the exact nature of Father and Nathalie’s relationship. (He’d never forgotten his father’s rage when he’d suggested Father was moving on.) But after she was gone, Father locked himself in his atelier, refusing to see or talk to anyone. 

Between Nathalie being gone, his father's withdrawal and no longer being needed as Chat Noir, Adrien had never felt so alone. 

He continued modeling out of the misguided hope that his involvement with the family business would eventually bring him closer to his father. 

That hadn't worked. 

Instead he's spent the last five years completely stagnant, while life has moved on for all of his friends. Nino and Alya are married. Nino’s working for a small production company and Alya’s been pursuing various passion projects since selling her media site. Marinette’s moving up through the ranks at a minor fashion house where she has a real chance to leave her mark and influence the direction of the brand. Juleka’s making quite a name for herself as a runway model and, unlike him, she actually enjoys it. She and Rose are even expecting a baby later this year, although Adrien’s not too clear on the details. Even Chloé seems to have it together. She loves her role as an influencer and her serious girlfriend.

And then there’s Adrien, stuck in a job he hates and utterly, miserably alone.

He just wants someone that he can be wholly, completely himself with. 

The women he met through modeling were never able to look past his public image and their expectations of him to really see him, and dating apps are out of the question with his level of celebrity.

So maybe participating in a reality TV show is an absolutely ridiculous thing to do, but it's the first thing he's chosen for himself in years. Besides, what does he have to lose? And maybe, just maybe, he has everything to gain. 

“Ladies!” XY Roth sings as he waltzes through the door, followed by Clara Nightingale.

Marinette pretends to be surprised along with the rest of the women, even though the producers had arranged them to sit on the chairs and couches facing the door specifically for their big entrance. She feels a little silly, but well, this is what she signed up for when she agreed to do this show.

“I’m XY Roth.”

“And I’m Clara Nightingale,” Clara says with a camera-perfect smile. She stopped speaking exclusively in rhyme years ago, when she made the transition into other media. “Welcome to the Love is Blind experiment!”

"How are y'all meeting guys right now?" XY asks.

"Bars!" one girl calls out. 

"Dating apps!" hollers another. 

"And how's that working out for you?"

"We're here, aren't we?" the girl next to Marinette answers, and everyone laughs, though Marinette is wincing internally.  The guys who message her on dating apps all seem to only be interested in hooking up and/or have some kind of gross Asian fetish. Pass. 

“Let’s see if we can’t fix that.”

“Y’all are going to choose someone to marry without ever seeing them,” XY says. “Isn’t that wild?”

Clara hums. “This is your chance to be loved for who you are, rather than your looks or fame or ethnicity or income or background.”

Adrien can’t help his sharp inhale at that. It’s real. It’s what he wants more than anything. And this is his chance. He just hopes there’s someone out there who will love the real him.

“Instead of basing your relationships on physical attraction, you’ll be making emotional connections. Psychologists believe that’s the key to long term success, and it’s what this experiment is all about.”

“Here’s how it’s gonna work,” XY says. “Over the next ten days, the gents will live on this side, and the lovely ladies will live on the other side. You’re gonna speak to a bunch of potential love interests.”

“But here’s the catch,” Clara says. “Looks won’t play a factor. The only time you’ll interact is in one of the private pods. You’ll be separated by one thin wall. You won’t ever get to see each other.”

“You make the calls here,” XY says. “You get to choose who you want to spend time with and ultimately decide the person you want to marry. Once there’s an accepted proposal, you get to see your fiancé for the very first time.”

“You’re going to leave here as an engaged couple with a wedding date!” Clara exclaims.

There’s a series of gasps and exclamations from the ladies.

Marinette claps along with the other girls, but she's so nervous. Can she fall in love with someone without seeing them? She's not sure. She feels like she can—with Adrien she fell in love with his kindness and his laugh, neither of them things you need to see. But would she have fallen without being able to look into his sincere gaze? Is she even capable of falling in love with someone else? It's never happened again. 

And to fall deeply enough that she’d agree to marry them? She can’t imagine it.

“You’ll go away together. Move in together. Meet family and friends,” XY continues the explanation. “And in just four weeks, you’ll be at your wedding.”

“This is arguably the biggest decision you’ll ever make,” Clara intones. “Will you say I do to the person you’ve chosen here in the pods without ever having seen them? Or will physical realities intrude and sabotage your relationship, and you’ll walk away from them,” a dramatic pause, “forever.”

“This is not the first time this experiment has been done,” XY jumps in. “I’m sure you’ve all heard of the American experiment. At least some of you probably watched it and know just how successful it was.”

“But as any scientist knows, an experiment needs to be capable of being repeated,” Clara picks up the thread. “It was done again in Brazil, and again it was successful.”

“The Americans and the Brazilians have had their turn at love. Now it’s yours,” XY says. “And what better place to try than the City of Love?”

More cheers and applause.

“But this time around we’re going to spice things up a bit with an added variable.” Clara smiles mischievously. “In addition to not knowing what each other look like, you won’t know each other’s names.” Clara waits patiently while the ladies gasp at this added complication. 

Why can’t they know each other’s names? Are some of the contestants famous or something? 

When the group has quieted, she explains, “We want you focusing on making deep, personal connections, not on evaluating each other based on your names or where you work or who you know.”

“That’s right,” XY says, sounding surprisingly serious. “Share away, but keep all identifying information under wraps. That means no revealing the other participants’ names either.”

"You should take some time today to choose an alias for yourself, something that tells potential husbands something important about you. You can exchange real names when you see each other for the first time after the proposal."

Marinette has trouble focusing on the rest of their little spiel, her mind already whirring away trying to think of name options. What does she want to be called? Clearly she won't be using the other name she's used to. 

"Take the rest of the day to think of a cash-money name," XY says, "and get a good night's rest because tomorrow some of you will be meeting your future wife."

The men cheer and clap, seemingly forgetting their surprise at the new name rule with this reminder of the excitement to come.

“We all need to remember the central question: is love truly blind?” Clara asks seriously.

“We hope so!” XY exclaims, and the men cheer as he and Clara leave the room. 

Adrien wonders if anyone has realized that he's the reason for the name rule. He's probably being overcautious, it's not like Adrien is an unusual name, but paired with his job—or worse, his last name—it's way too identifying, and that would defeat the purpose of him coming on the show. Thankfully, the producers were willing to accommodate him. 

As everyone else around him scrambles to decide what they’ll be called, Adrien is able to relax and think ahead to what it will be like dating in the pods.

After all, he’s already got the purrfect alias. 

When Marinette wakes the following morning, she's more excited than nervous. She rolls out of bed and pulls on her robe, then makes her way to the large bathroom she shares with the other women. 

There are already several women styling their hair and doing their makeup in front of the large mirror. 

"Is this really necessary?" she can't help but ask. "None of the guys are going to see us."

"No, but the cameras will," says Helène with a wink. Marinette thinks she's a personal trainer. "Don't you want to look good on TV?"

Right, the cameras. She doesn't think it's necessary to get done up like she's going to a cocktail party, but she really doesn't want to look bad on TV...

Adrien stands in the hallway in a line of men, each of them facing a door. He inhales. Exhales.

He might be about to meet the woman he will marry. 

His fingers flex on his notepad. 

"And go!" Claude says and, as one, the men all step forward, open their doors, and walk into the pods. 

"Hello?" Marinette calls out tentatively as she walks around to check out the screen covered in images of sparkling blue and white snowflakes that connects her pod to the guy on the other side. It reminds her of the ice power up or the stars on AstroChat’s suit. The room is small and cozy, with a comfortable looking beige couch covered in throw pillows and a blue blanket. The dim lighting makes the space feel intimate.

"Hi there," comes a smooth baritone through the screen, followed by a warm chuckle. "This is so weird."

"So weird," Marinette agrees with a laugh. She settles down on the couch, perched awkwardly on the edge, and feeling a little like she’s there for a job interview rather than to meet her future husband. "So, uh, what should I call you?"

"Panther," Panther says. "And you?"

"Call me Thesis," Marinette says. "Tell me about yourself."

Adrien smiles before answering. He knows she can't see him, but hopefully she'll hear the warmth in his voice and be interested. "Well, I'm twenty-six and I work as a brand ambassador, but I think it might be time for a switch."

"Would I have heard of the brand?" she asks. She has a pretty voice. It's strange not being able to connect it with a face. 

"You might have," he answers noncommittally. He leans back into the cushions. "What about you?"

"I'm twenty-eight and I'm an interior decorator."

"Where were you when I got my apartment?" Adrien asks and she laughs. 

"Bachelor pad?"

"Hopefully not for long."

"What do you look like?" Panther asks. 

Marinette's face scrunches in annoyance. "Isn't the whole idea that we don't know what each other look like?"

"Well, I mean, just because we can't see each other, doesn't mean we can't know anything. Are you hot? You sound hot."

Marinette carefully writes NO next to Panther's name and underlines it twice. 

"I chose Viola because music is such a big part of my life. Are you musical at all, Bombay?"

"I play the piano," Adrien offers. His fingers move in the air like he’s playing imaginary keys, even if she can’t see him. "What about you?"

"I play the piano, also, and pretty much every string instrument: guitar, cello, violin, harp, viola obviously." Her tone turns playful. "Can you actually play or is it just Chopsticks?"

He grins, enjoying the gentle teasing. "If they let me bring a keyboard in here, I’ll serenade you and then you can decide for yourself."

"I'd like that."

"...it’s not that I think I work harder than everyone else because I’m a lawyer, you understand, although, of course, lawyer is probably the most demanding job there is. It’s about my own personal work ethic. You see, when I graduated from my law university—Toulouse, of course, I know some argue that Pantheon-Sorbonne is better but it’s a school for foreigners, that’s ridiculous! But as I was saying...”

Are their ten minutes up? They must be soon. She feels like she’s been stuck listening to him for an hour!

And Caesar has yet to ask her a single question. 

She doesn't understand why he came on a dating show when he's clearly already in love—with himself!

He probably wouldn't even notice if she left. 

She can't do that though, right? That would be rude. 

"Now, of course I would’ve been looking at multiple offers anyway given my school and my ranking, but of course once they heard my name—it’s really a shame we’re not allowed to share those—there was really no question that all the top firms would be trying to recruit me."

Right, no, she's out of here. 

Caesar doesn't even seem to notice as she leaves the room. 

"I guess my love language is food," Cupcake says. "There's nothing like cooking for someone and then sitting down to share a meal together to show you care."

Adrien's eyes sting. "I..." He clears his throat. "I'm not much of a chef but that sounds really amazing. I think if someone did that for me I would definitely feel cared for."

"My family always, always had dinner together growing up. It's so important to me. I want to continue that tradition with my family."

"Yes please," he blurts without meaning to.

Cupcake giggles, happy and warm. 

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Marinette begins with a light laugh. "But why Keeper?"

"Because I'm a keeper," he says, and she thinks if they could see each other, he'd deliver it with a wink. 

"Oh no, that's such a line!"

Keeper laughs. "I know, I know. My mom says it's true though."

"Oh, I'm sure she's not biased at all."

"Maybe a little bit," he admits. "No, I'm a goalkeeper. Football is a huge part of my life, I've been playing since I was little and now I coach at the lycée where I teach."

"That's great! I'm not sporty at all. Honestly, I'm a bit of a klutz."

"Well, I'm sure you've got other things to fill your time. Based on your name, I'm going to guess...grad student?"

She gives a little chuckle. "I can see why you'd think that, but no, I'm finished with school. I'm a designer and Thesis is the goddess of creativity. It seemed fitting."

"Nice. I like that." Keeper's voice turns flirty. "I like your voice, too." 

"Yeah? Why's that?" Marinette asks. If this is yet another segue to trying to find out how "hot" she is...

"It just sounds nice," he says. "You sound really kind."

"Oh," Marinette says, cheeks warm. She's flattered and relieved. She'd been starting to think she was never going to find someone sweet here. "Thank you. Um, so why are you here?"

"Same reason as most of us, I guess. I want to find that person I can marry and have a family with and grow old with. You can spot someone whose looks you like pretty easy from across the bar, but finding someone who you fit with? Someone you want to be with every day for the rest of your life? Someone who loves who you are inside? That's not so easy, but that's what I want."

"Wow," she breathes. "You put that so well." She smiles. "How do you feel about hamsters?"

"Hi there," Adrien calls as he sits down. The process is starting to feel familiar. 

"Hi, what's your name?" comes through the wall. He shivers. Something about her voice...

"Bombay."

"Like the city?"

"I think it's Mumbai now," he says. "But in this case, it’s Bombay like the cat."

"That's very specific," she says, giggling. A very familiar giggle. (He swallows. There's no way...is there?) "So what's so special about that particular cat?"

"I had a cat like that once, black with green eyes," Adrien says. A slight manipulation of the truth, but, he thinks, a reasonable one in the circumstances. If she’s who he suspects, will she recognize the description? "They said to choose a name that would tell you something important about me. I want a family and, I guess, for me, a family isn't really complete without a pet. So, how do you feel about cats?"

She giggles again, the notes of her laughter dancing along his skin. 

"I love them," she says. "In fact, they might be my favourite."

"That's good," he says, heart racing. Is it her? How can he find out without giving anything away? There are cameras everywhere. And has she recognized him? To buy time while he tries to think of some kind of plan, Adrien asks, "What's your name?"

"Thesis."

His heart stops. "The goddess of creation?"

"You know your Greek mythology," Thesis—Ladybug, he's sure of it now—says, and he can hear the smile in her voice. 

"A bit," he demurs. "So, you're a creative type, huh?"

"Yeah," she says brightly. "I love to make things. I'm a fashion designer now but I've always been creating and inventing."

"Can you tell me about some of the things you've made?"

"Well, I sew, knit and crochet, so I've made pretty much every item of clothing." Ladybug laughs. "Oh gosh, this is so embarrassing, but when I was like thirteen I was totally in love with this boy, right? I spent a  truly ridiculous amount of time making him gifts for his next fifty birthdays. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Adrien's chest hurts. He thought he'd moved past this, but he can't help the surge of jealousy. 

"That's the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life."

"You don't think I'm totally lame?"

"I think you're romantic," he says. He licks his lips, can't help admitting, "If someone did that for me, I - I'd probably cry, honestly. And then propose."

"Well, now I know what to do."

"Okay, but I want fifty years worth of presents. Don't think you can get away with forty-nine. Nothing less than fifty will do."

She laughs. "I'll keep that in mind."

The knock at the door signals their ten minutes are up. 

Too soon. Much too soon. 

He only hopes he’s done enough that she wants to see him again.

Chapter Text

"Okay, ladies," Julie says once all the women are sitting and quiet. She's giving the instructions rather than Clara and XY because they aren’t filming this part. "Rank your favourite men so that we can set up the dates for tomorrow. When you're done, give me your sheets and head over to the confessionals so we can get your takes on the dates while they're still fresh."

Marinette fills out her sheet quickly. It's easy since there were only two guys she felt a connection with.

Keeper is funny and flirty. He was definitely fun to talk to, and he mentioned coaching so he's probably good with kids, which is important. It was his little speech about what he's looking for that touched her heart though.

And Bombay...there's something about his voice that makes her feel safe. Warm. Plus he struck a balance between being genuine and making her laugh that she really liked. And he identified her alias right away, so he's clearly smart. She definitely wants to get to know him better.

Adrien wakes even more nervous and excited than he was the day before. He knows he shouldn't get his hopes up, he might not have even ranked with Ladybug, it's not like she's ever been interested in him before, but...he made her laugh and she seemed to enjoy their time together.

At least he thinks she did.

Maybe she sees him as a possibility...

Claude comes in with their schedules for the day, explaining that they've arranged the dates based on yesterday's rankings and sending home some of the men who apparently didn't match up with anyone.

Adrien's glad not to be part of that particular group.

He looks over his schedule with a little thrill, seeing that he has dates with Cupcake, Cashmere, Viola...and Thesis.

It's what he's always wanted: a chance.

“So, ladies, who are we liking?” Brienne asks, totally spontaneously and not at all coached by the producers.

Marinette listens to the women’s conversation without much real interest or intention of contributing herself. It’s still really early, and while she likes Bombay and Keeper, she doesn’t know if she’ll continue to like them, or if it will develop into anything more.

Besides, just because she has dates with both of them doesn’t mean anything except that she made a good first impression.

“Panther,” Helène says. “His voice is so sexy.”

Marinette struggles not to roll her eyes. The cameras are rolling and the last thing she wants is to be a reaction shot. But seriously, is Helène talking about the same guy she met yesterday? Because his voice is not enough to balance out that personality.

“I really like Bombay and Keeper.”

Marinette’s head spins to see who said that. Coralie. She can’t quite suppress the twang of nervousness that vibrates through her chest. Coralie’s so bright and pretty, and they like the same two guys. What if they prefer her to Marinette?

No, that doesn’t matter. If they prefer Coralie, it just means they’re not the right men for Marinette. She doesn’t care. She doesn’t.

Still, when Violet chimes in with “I liked Bombay too!” her gut twists uncomfortably.

She’s never really been comfortable competing for people to like her.

What has she gotten herself into?

“Let’s talk about the girls!” Bastien says. “Who does everyone like?”

“Thesis,” Adrien blurts before he can think better of it.

"Yeah, I really like her too!"

Adrien whips around to see who said that, and swallows uncomfortably.

Kieran is tall, dark and handsome. Adrien's tall, too, but Kieran is broad in a way he isn't. His resemblance to Adrien's mental image of The Boy Ladybug Loved (Loves?) is uncanny. He's probably exactly her type, physically.

He knew other men would be interested in her. Whether she's calling herself Thesis or Ladybug or whatever her real name is, she's amazing. Of course he wouldn't be the only one to notice that. Really, the only mystery has been how the lucky bastard she loved didn't throw himself at her feet long before this.

He just wasn't expecting to feel the threat so acutely.

Adrien is suddenly very, very glad that none of the contestants can see each other until after the engagements. 

(He tries not to worry about making it that far. One step at a time.)

The conversation has moved on while Adrien's been fretting. At the moment, Marshall is waxing poetic about his meeting with Bonheur.

Kieran claps him on the back encouragingly when he finishes, saying, "That's beautiful. I hope she likes you just as much."

Marshall smiles. "Thanks."

Adrien's gut churns with anxiety as he watches the men discuss the women. Or, more accurately, as he watches Kieran.

Throughout the discussion, Kieran is fully integrated into the group, clearly comfortable among a bunch of strangers. His manner is easy, and it's clear that even at this early stage, he's well-liked.

Adrien's never been more aware of his own social awkwardness. He can navigate social situations and make conversation, but he's never at the centre of things. He's only ever had a few good friends, always felt the distance between him and his peers. They might like him, but no matter how inoffensive he tries to be, he's not approachable.

What are the chances that, with an option like Kieran, Ladybug would ever pick him?

“What, no piano?” Viola teases.

Adrien laughs. “I haven’t been able to track one down yet.”

“I think you’re just embarrassed to play for me.”

“I’m sure you’re a tough critic with your music background, but I’ve had to play for my father. I promise you can’t be a tougher critic than he is.”

“But in all seriousness,” she says with a giggle. “I really would love to hear you play. Not to judge or criticize, I just think people put a lot of themselves into their music, and I’d like to see that side of you.”

Adrien wonders if Ladybug plays any musical instruments. He wouldn’t be surprised, she’s so creative and multi-talented. Or maybe she sings—he bets she has a lovely singing voice. Or maybe—

“Bombay?” Viola calls.

Adrien flushes, embarrassed at having been caught thinking about one girl while on a date with another. But at least she doesn’t know that.

“Sorry! I was just trying to think of what song I should play for you.”

“Does this mean I can expect something more original than Für Elise?”

“What do you take me for?” he scoffs. “I intend to regale you with something completely unexpected.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. How do you feel about Pachelbel’s Canon in D?”

She’s silent for a few moments, before saying “Um, that’s pretty cliche too...”

Adrien’s heart falls. “Yeah, I know. I was making a joke,” he explains awkwardly. “Okay, what about Wedding Day at Troldhaugen?” That’s a little more esoteric and hey, it works in a wedding reference on this show about getting married!

“I guess that will do,” she says with a little giggle, and Adrien smiles.

So what if she didn’t get his joke? She’s laughing now, and that’s what matters.

Marinette settles into the cushions with a little curl of excitement. She already knows she likes the guys she's "seeing" today, so the nerves are purely anticipatory.

"Good morning, Thesis," Bombay greets her cheerfully through the divider and she smiles reflexively.

"Good morning," she echoes.

"So," he says. "Um, what would constitute a perfect day for you?"

"Oh, hmm," she murmurs. "Like on a date?"

"If that would be part of your perfect day."

"Okay, um, for starters I would wake up on time," she offers with a laugh. "And I wouldn't trip at all. Um, my mentor would tell me that they're using one of my designs in the Fall lineup, and Maman would make my favourite for supper."

"What's that?" he asks.

"Mapo tofu," she answers. "And then...I don't know. Maybe drinks with my bestie or a run with a friend."

"That sounds like a great day. Although I'm surprised work was part of it."

"I love what I do," she says with a shrug.

“And that’s...designing clothing?”

“Yeah, I work for a small fashion house. What about you, what do you do?”

“I’m a brand ambassador.”

“A brand ambassador, huh? What brand?”

He laughs. “I can’t tell you that, you’re in fashion. Then you’d know my name and what I look like. How are we supposed to figure out if love is blind then?”

“So it’s for a fashion label,” she murmurs to herself. 

She doesn’t want to tell him that his concern is probably overblown. If she knew the designer’s name, she’s sure she’d be familiar with them, and even the details of their latest line, but she tends not to pay much attention to who they’re paying to represent them. Really, the only ‘face of the brand’ she’s ever paid much attention to is—

She forcefully drags her attention back to the present. She’s not going to think about him now, especially not when she’s on a date with a guy she really likes.

"What about you?” she asks. “What's your perfect day?"

"One where I get to sleep in and don't have to work," he says immediately. "I would go for lunch with my friends and maybe play some games with my best friend. And then maybe a dinner date?"

"That sounds like a pretty good day."

"Okay, given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?"

Marinette bursts into laughter. "Oh my gosh, you totally have a list of questions, don't you?"

"Um," he says, and she knows she caught him.

"You absolute dork," she giggles. "How many questions are on this list?"

He's quiet for a few seconds, then, "Thirty-six."

She laughs again. That's adorable. "Did you get them off the internet?"

"Yeah..." he sighs.

"Well, that's one way to make sure we don't run out of things to talk about. Hmmm, dinner guest. I'm assuming there are no limits, so I'll say Hubert de Givenchy. His designs are such an influence of mine and I'd love to pick his brain." She makes her way over to the sidebar and grabs a bottle of water. "What about you? Sorry, I don't have a printout of internet questions, so I have to steal yours."

He gives a light, little laugh. "That's fair," he says. "I would want to have dinner with my mom. She died when I was a teenager and I just wish I could talk to her again."

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, heart aching for him. She doesn't know how she would handle losing her own mother. "That must have been hard."

"I...yeah," he admits. "My father's never been particularly warm, so losing Maman was... I miss her a lot." He clears his throat. "Um, so, if you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, what would it be?"

“So, Bombay,” Cupcake begins in a light tone that makes Adrien think she’s smiling. “What do you look for in a woman?”

Adrien pauses for a moment, considering. He hasn’t spent a lot of time thinking about his type, if he has one, but when he considers what attracted him to Ladybug and to Kagami and his attraction to Marinette that he suppressed so as not to mess with their friendship, he definitely notices some overlapping characteristics.

“I like women who know what they want,” he says. “I like determination and, I guess, bravery? Like, even if you’re afraid of something, you don’t let that hold you back.” He laughs a little awkwardly. “I feel like that’s not a typical answer.”

“I like it,” Cupcake assures him. “Did I tell you about the time I was home alone and there was a massive spider? And even though it was terrifying, I killed it myself.”

When Adrien laughs this time, it’s more natural. “Very brave.” He feels a little tendril of excitement at the idea that she wants to be the kind of woman he’s looking for. “What about you? What do you look for in a man?”

“Someone who can make me laugh,” she answers immediately. “And I like a man who gives really good hugs.”

“I’m sure you’ll come to really embrace my sense of humour.”

There’s a pause. Then, “Did you just...pun?”

“If you like hugs, our relationship might be touch and go after we get out of here.”

She giggles. “Oh, you’re witty.”

“Oh good, I couldn’t bear if you were to hold my punning against me.”

As Cupcake laughs some more, Adrien’s filled with warmth. He’s not used to people reacting quite so positively to his jokes (just his friends, really) and it’s nice. It's really, really nice.

“I’m really glad I get to see you again,” Keeper says warmly before laughing. “Well, not see you-see you, but you know what I mean, I hope.”

Marinette feels a flush of happiness. “Yeah, I do. I’m glad too.”

“Good,” he says. “I felt like we had a real connection yesterday and I want to get to know you better.”

“Me too,” she says. “So go ahead. Ask away!”

“What are you looking for in a partner?” 

The use of the word partner sends her thoughts immediately to the only partner she’s ever known, Chat Noir, and she feels a pang of missing him. She shouldn’t be thinking of him, especially not now when she’s on a date with a guy she really likes. 

(She doesn’t let herself think too deeply about why she doesn’t think she should be thinking about Chat while on a date since it’s not like she has feelings for him or anything...)

Marinette pulls the blanket hanging off the back of the couch onto her lap and kneads her fingers in the soft knit. “Someone who is kind and supportive,” she answers. “I can get really anxious sometimes and have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew, so I need people in my life who can pull me out of my head, and will also be patient with me when I’m being a little ridiculous.”

“How come you’re taking on so much?”

She shrugs, though he can’t see her. “Personality flaw, I guess. I love to help people out and so I hate to say no. Plus, there’s so many things I love to do, so I want to do them all, and I guess I get carried away.”

“I see,” Keeper says, and he sounds serious. “Well, I’m a coach. Supporting people is literally my job, and I hope you’ll let me support you.”

Marinette smiles. The sentiment is sweet, but he really has no idea just how carried away she can get. If things go well, maybe he’ll find out, but she doubts coaching football has prepared him for her particular brand of crazy. 

“What about you? What are you looking for?”

“I want someone I can build something real with,” he answers. “Something where there’s give and take, where we both build each other up and support each other. Someone I can cuddle up with at the end of the day while we watch our favourite TV show. Someone to kiss goodbye in the morning and kiss hello when we get home. Someone to laugh with and share meals with. Just...something real, you know?”

“Oh,” she says, heart fluttering. “I want that too.”

Adrien affects his best model smile as he faces the camera, careful not to glance over at Claude, who is off to the side, ready to prod him into delivering the answers they want. 

“The women are all really great,” he enthuses. “I feel like I’m making great connections and who knows, maybe one of them is my future wife!”

Claude clears his throat and Adrien looks over at him questioningly. “That’s great, Adrien, but we want to play up the celebrity angle for the commercials. Can you try that again but this time say the future Mrs Agreste?”

Adrien frowns. “Isn’t that kind of presumptuous? What if she doesn’t want to change her name?”

Claude sighs. “Fine, let’s keep it moving. Tell us about your dating history.”

“Oh, uh...” Adrien runs a sheepish hand through his hair. “This might surprise my fans but I haven’t really dated much. Between working full time since I was a teen and...other things, it’s just never really happened.”

“You dated that champion fencer,” Claude digs, “and that girl in the pajamas.”

“You mean Kagami and Marinette?”

“Right. You still in touch with them?”

Adrien really doesn’t want to get into his messy break up with Kagami. He still regrets that. He never meant to hurt her and, if he’d known it was going to cost him her friendship, he never would have attempted dating in the first place.

“Not so much with Kagami. I learned the hard way that dating can ruin a friendship,” he explains uncomfortably. “And Marinette is one of my friends, but we never dated. That was just a misunderstanding.”

“So she’s just a friend?”

“Not just a friend, a very good friend,” Adrien corrects firmly.

He doesn’t know what to make of the odd light in Claude’s eyes when he glances his way.

Claude doesn’t push him on it any further though. Instead, he instructs, “Tell us about the girls you like the best.”

Adrien feels his cheeks heat up. Well, it’s not like he hasn’t been obvious about his preference already, right? “I really like how driven Thesis is. I liked how she was such a good sport about my questions, and her answers...you can just tell that she knows what she wants and she’s passionate about what she does.”

He doesn’t wait for Claude to prompt him about the other girls before continuing, “Cupcake is really sweet. I like making her laugh and how easy it is to talk to her. I think we have a real connection.” He pauses so they can splice up the confessional later if necessary. “Viola is someone I want to get to know better. I really like that we have a shared interest in music, but I want to get to know more about her and see if we connect on other levels.”

“But Thesis is your favourite?” Claude smirks knowingly.

“Yeah,” he admits. “Thesis is my favourite.”

“Tell us about your dating history,” Julie prods with an interested gleam in her eye.

“Um, I really haven’t dated very seriously before coming here...” Marinette shrugs awkwardly. “I guess I haven’t really made the time for relationships. I keep pretty busy with work and all of my side projects.”

“You’ve had some pretty famous ex-boyfriends though, haven’t you?” she presses. “You were linked with supermodel Adrien Agreste and former Kitty Section guitarist Luka Couffaine.”

Marinette tries not to shift awkwardly on the little stool they have her sitting on in front of the green screen. The whole setup is just...weird, and Julie’s questions really aren’t helping matters.

“Luka and I dated for a couple of weeks when I was sixteen. It wasn’t a big deal,” she explains awkwardly. “And Adrien and I are just friends. We were never together, the tabloids just overreacted, and I was only fourteen anyway.”

“So there was never anything romantic between you?”

“No.” Marinette tries really hard to keep the bitterness out of her voice because that’s the correct answer, the true answer, for all she’d wished and hoped and tried to make it otherwise. That’s a big part of why she’s here. It’s well past time to bury those old feelings and move on with her life. She really doesn’t appreciate Julie dragging it up.

“Okay,” Julie chirps. “Tell us how day one of the experiment went.”

“I was a little nervous during the first dates,” Marinette says, more comfortable with this line of questioning. “I was worried I wasn’t going to find anyone I liked. A lot of the guys...we just didn’t hit it off.”

“Go on,” Julie coaxes. Marinette’s eyes flick over to her before coming back to the camera. “Tell us about the men you did hit it off with.”

“Right, so—”

“No,” Julie interrupts. “Start with Luckily, I did hit it off with...”

Marinette swallows. She can do this. “Luckily, I did hit it off with Keeper. He’s just got this warmth to him. I feel like he’s really genuine and a super great guy.”

“Is he your favourite?” Julie prompts.

“I don’t think I have a favourite at this stage,” she answers honestly. “I’m still getting to know them, but I really like both Keeper and Bombay.” She winces internally. Julie had told her to talk about one guy at a time, since they’d be splicing up the confessional with scenes from her different dates. She continues, “Bombay and I really hit it off early on. I was impressed when he knew where I got the name Thesis from, and then he made me laugh. But today, when he opened up a bit about his family and his life...” She exhales. “I want to know more.”

Chapter Text

"So what made you decide to do this experiment?" Bombay asks.

Marinette can't help the smirk that curves her lips at that. The producers have drilled that into them mercilessly: they're not to refer to this as a show or dating game or anything like that. Just "the experiment" or “the process”.

"Maybe I'm the kind of person who wants to be famous and on TV," she suggests, leaning back into the couch cushions.

He chuckles. "I mean, you could be, but somehow I don't think you are. You don't strike me as the kind of person who craves the spotlight. Besides, I'm pretty sure that you'd rather be famous for what you do than who you date or marry."

His insight into her character has warmth pooling in her belly. How can it be that they've only known each other for a matter of days, and yet, he seems to understand her so well?

"My best friend," she admits, grabbing a pillow off the couch and tucking it into her lap. "She's always pushing me to do stuff outside my comfort zone. And, well, this is really out of my comfort zone!" she laughs. "Besides, I haven't really had a lot of luck with traditional dating, so I figured I didn't have anything to lose."

(She very deliberately doesn't mention the role that her lingering feelings for Adrien had played in her decision, or Alya's point that, with how tongue-tied she got every time she stared into Adrien's dreamy spring green eyes, maybe she'd have better luck with not being able to see the guy until she was sure her feelings were reciprocated.)

"What about you?" she returns, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Well, I definitely didn't come here to get famous," he says in a wry tone of voice that she doesn't quite understand. "I guess I'm just ready to settle down and start that next stage of my life. And I liked the idea of meeting women who are also ready to make a commitment."

“Do you...really see yourself ready to get engaged by the end of the ten days?” 

Anticipation curls in her gut pleasantly. It’s way too early for this, they’ve only known each other for four days. It’s too early for her to be falling for him...isn’t it? So why is she so eager for his answer?

“Yeah,” he murmurs. “To the right person? Yeah, I do.”

“Oh.” Heat floods her cheeks and she buries her face in one of the decorative pillows, this one appropriately shaped like a heart, as happiness floods her. 

She’s not ready to say it yet, not even to herself. It’s way too soon to be having these kinds of feelings.

But she really, really hopes he means her.

"And I've just finished filling the last of my thirty-six cupcake liners, right?" Cupcake says. "And just as I'm about to load them into the oven, guess what I see."

"What?" Adrien prompts dutifully. He's been following her story attentively, but he doesn't have the first clue about baking.

"The eggs, sitting on the counter, still waiting to be mixed into the batter!"

"I'm guessing that's a critical ingredient?"

"Little bit," she says, laughing.

He swings his legs up onto the couch so that he can lay back and relax. "So, what did you do?"

"What could I do? I carefully scraped out every single one of those liners and mixed in the eggs! It took me half an hour to get it all."

He laughs. She reminds him a little of Marinette, with the way that she makes (kind of ridiculous) mistakes sometimes, but then finds a way to fix them. "You didn't want to toss it and start over?"

"I was out of sugar. I didn't have a choice!"

"I'm just making a note here: terrible attention to detail," he teases.

She gasps. "Spoken like someone who's never getting any cupcakes from me."

"Noooo, I'm sorry!” He sits up quickly, the better to beg for his lost cupcake privileges. “Please don't deny me goodies! I promise I'll be good. I won't even say anything when I bite into your banana bread and realize a distinct lack of bananas."

"How dare you!" she exclaims, but her voice is shaking with laughter.

Adrien laughs too, enjoying their easy banter. “So you like to bake?”

“And cook,” she agrees. “I like to feed the people I love.”

“That’s really generous of you.”

“Mmm, well, I want to have a big family some day, so I’m going to have to be able to feed them all!”

“Sounds like you’re well on your way...as long as you remember all of the ingredients.”

“I really hope you get to meet him one day,” Keeper enthuses. “I think you’d get along so well. This guy has had my back through everything. He’s helped me move, delivered food when I was sick, picked up my little sister when she got stranded after a date gone bad.”

“You couldn’t pick her up?”

“I was out of town for a tournament,” he explains. 

“Do you go away for tournaments often?” Marinette wonders, running her finger over the fabric of the couch in little doodles. She has to admit, she doesn’t like the idea of marrying someone who has to travel a lot for work.

“Three, four times a year,” he answers easily. “It’s really not that bad, it was just poor timing. Luckily we’ve been friends so long, he sees her as his own little sister. It’s so important to have friends that you can trust and rely on like that.”

“You’re right,” she agrees. “My best friend is a lot like that. She’s pushed me when I needed it—she’s the reason I decided to do this experiment—and she’s supported me, and had my back. And we went to school right in the heart of Paris. With akuma attacks like every other day, trust me, we have been Through It TM.”

“Were you ever in an akuma attack?” he asks, sounding interested.

Marinette smiles. He has no idea. 

She can’t tell him the full truth, of course, so instead she focuses on what she can admit to. 

“Yeah, almost every person in my class in collège was akumatized at some point. Actually, one of my friends had a crush on me and when he got akumatized, he asked me out as an akuma.”

“You’re making that up.”

“I’m not!”

“You went on a date with an akuma,” he echoes skeptically.

Marinette rests her head on the arm of the couch. “Only to provide a distraction so Chat Noir could get the akumatized object.”

“I see you casually announcing you helped an actual superhero,” he says and she has to stifle a laugh. He really, really has no idea. Although even as she sees the humour in the situation, she’s a little sad about it. How is she supposed to decide to marry someone while still keeping such a big part of her life a secret from them? “And your ex was an akuma. Cool, cool.”

“He’s not my ex,” she protests. “We didn’t date. Just the one time and he doesn't remember that, anyway, because akuma victims don’t remember their akumatizations.”

“You have to admit, though, it sounds cool to be able to say your ex was an akuma.”

She lifts her head up so that she can drawl properly, “Well, I mean, my actual ex was akumatized...”

“Thesis, you are just full of surprises,” he murmurs. 

“I have a surprise,” Adrien announces.

“Ooh, what do you have for me?” Viola asks, sounding excited and pleased.

Adrien carefully adjusts the height of the keyboard he procured and places his hands over the keys carefully before he begins to play.

Although he’s a little nervous for her reaction—after all, she’s described her musical experience, she’ll definitely notice if he hits a wrong note—he’s also excited to play for someone who is likely to truly appreciate the performance.

The opening notes of Misty ring out, resonating nicely into the intimate space of the pod, and Adrien smiles as he plays.

His smile grows as Viola’s voice carries through the screen between them, picking up the song in a high, sweet, full tone, singing about as helpless as a kitten up a tree. She has a lovely singing voice, and she harmonizes with the piano perfectly.

“You sing beautifully,” he tells her when the song has finished and the last of the notes has faded away.

“Thank you,” she says. “You play extremely well. Now I’m sorry I didn’t bring any of my instruments with me. I’d love to duet with you again.”

“Maybe after,” Adrien suggests before he thinks better of it. But, well, he still has no idea what Ladybug wants or if she’ll choose him or even if she’s developing feelings for him. And he promised himself that he would give the connections he makes here a real chance.

“I’d love that.”

It’s much too early to be awake, and Marinette hasn’t even had her coffee yet, when Coralie ambushes her in the kitchen.

Okay, that’s unfair. She approaches her and asks if they can talk.

“Sure?” Marinette agrees warily before seeing that she’s already corralled an uncomfortable looking Violet. 

Oh, she realizes. Looks like they’re talking about this.

The three girls sit down on the plush chairs and couches of the living area, and Marinette takes a large gulp of her coffee for strength.

She’s not awake enough for this conversation.

“So,” Coralie begins, looking from Marinette to Violet and back again. “I know it’s kind of awkward with us dating the same people, but I don’t want it to be. There’s no reason we can’t all be friends, right?”

A pang of guilt lances through Marinette. She has been letting the awkwardness of the situation get to her, and she’s been avoiding the both of them because of it. 

“Of course.” She smiles, but she’s worried it comes out tight. Still, she means to try. She learned this lesson already with Kagami, and that had given her an amazing friendship she would have missed out on if she’d let their mutual crush interfere. 

And the men she likes like these girls, too. Surely that speaks well for them? 

Besides, Marinette doesn’t want to be the kind of person who pushes female friendship away because of romantic relationships. 

“I would love to be friends,” Marinette adds.

“I don’t have anything against either of you,” Violet says, chewing on her lip. “It’s hard though because I really, really like Bombay. There’s no one else for me: he’s it. I think it’s different for the two of you because you like someone else as well.”

Marinette doesn’t know if it’s really that different. She still feels jealous and uncomfortable when she thinks too much about it, but she doesn’t want to say that. Besides, she can manage her feelings. She’s done it before, and she’s a lot older and (hopefully) more mature now.

“I’m sure it is different,” Coralie agrees. “I’m not trying to change your feelings about him. I wouldn’t do that. I just don’t want us to be uncomfortable around each other.”

“I don’t want to hide my feelings and I don’t want to ask either of you to do that either, but maybe we could spare each other the gushing?” Marinette suggests. “You know, save that for the other girls.”

“Yeah, okay,” Violet agrees.

“Perfect,” says Coralie.

“Okay, hit me,” Thesis says. “You said you had more of those internet questions. Let’s do it.”

Adrien’s stomach flips. He’s pleased at how receptive she is to his admittedly dorky idea. He’d printed off and brought the questions with him before knowing she would be here. (They’re not allowed phones or social media or the internet at all during the “experiment”, so printing was necessary.) The questions are supposed to be psychologically proven to make people fall in love.

Okay, to spark a deep emotional connection, but close enough.

And okay, yes, there’s also supposed to be some extended gazing into each other’s eyes happening with that, but the format of the experiment obviously doesn’t allow for that and he needs to work with what he’s got.

Originally the plan was to ask his favourites these questions, but he hasn’t been able to bring himself to try them with anyone else. (There’s really only one person he wants a deep emotional connection with.)

“Okay, he says, glancing at the list. “Is there something you’ve dreamt of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?”

“Wow, going right for the deep stuff,” she exclaims, and Adrien winces.

“Sorry, you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to. In fact, we don’t even need to keep doing these. They do get more intense as you go and—”

“Bombay, it’s fine,” she cuts in. “Hmm, I’ve dreamt of starting my own fashion line since collège, but I’m actively working towards that and it’s not the kind of thing that happens overnight, so that kind of feels like a cop-out. I...” she exhales heavily. “Okay, wow, I can’t believe I’m admitting this. I - I’ve always dreamed of a relationship where I could be one hundred percent myself, one hundred percent honest about my thoughts and feelings and just...everything. I mean, I think I mentioned before about the boy I was in love with when I was a teenager, but I never even managed to confess to him. I tried, but my words kept getting twisted up and I just never managed it. So even though it’s something I’ve dreamed about, I haven’t done it because I’m scared.”

“What are you scared of?” he prods, trying to fit this tidbit into his mental image of her. He'd always thought that boy had been stupid enough to reject her. He hadn't realized she'd never confessed. It’s not that he thought her fearless, he’s definitely seen her frightened before. It just never occurred to him that fear might hold her back.

“Rejection?” Even though she’s answering, it comes out like a question. “I know it’s stupid, but...”

“It’s not stupid. Thank you for sharing that with me,” he breathes, awed at having her open up to him this way, the way he’s always dreamed of Ladybug doing. Her display of trust deserves one in return, so he answers his own question, “For a long time, pretty much my whole life really, I’ve just been doing what I was told. My parents had very specific ideas about what they wanted my life to look like, and for the most part I’ve gone along with it.”

“It doesn’t sound like a very good situation,” she murmurs.

“It’s not. I - I guess I’m a bit of a people pleaser? And I’ve wanted to make my father proud, but...the thing I’ve dreamed of doing is actually taking the space to figure out what I want to do. What makes me happy? I don’t actually know the answer, and I feel weird about that because all of my friends have already figured it out and are pursuing their dreams, and my dream is just to realize mine.” He shrugs helplessly even though she can’t see him.

“Please don’t feel weird about not having it figured out yet. It sounds like there’s extenuating circumstances and really, not everyone figures out what they want to do right away. There’s nothing wrong with still figuring yourself out. I certainly don’t think any less of you,” she says emphatically, and he knows that tone of voice. It comforts him in a way that’s difficult to put into words, knowing that she cares, that he has her support. “And that’s the beautiful thing about life, right? That you can always make new choices.”

“So,” he begins, worried he’s going to show just how needy he is, but having to ask anyway because he needs to be sure, “you don’t think I’m lame?”

“Not at all!” she gasps. “I - I really like it when you open up to me like this, actually. It means a lot to me that you trust me. I’m really enjoying getting to know you, Bombay.”

“Me too,” he murmurs, closing his eyes and sinking into the couch in relief. “You’re so easy to talk to, and I love - I really love getting to know you too, Thesis.”

The days go by in a blur of dates, to the point where Adrien feels a little like a fish in a bowl with all the time he spends in the pod. And while he enjoys and is flattered by the attention from Cupcake and Viola, and they’re both lovely girls, they don’t send his heart aflutter.

Not like Thesis.

Not like Ladybug.

Not like the woman under Ladybug’s mask, the one he’s been dying to know.

The one he falls for a little harder every time they talk.

If he thought he was a goner before, he really had no idea.

Chapter Text

“You know,” Marinette begins in a teasing tone of voice, “I really don’t think it’s fair that I have to answer all of the questions from your list first.”

“Hmm, you’re right,” Bombay agrees easily. “It’s really not fair, is it? What should we do about it?”

“Obviously to make it fair, you need to go first next,” she answers. “And, to make up for all of the times you made me go first, you need to pick a really hard one.”

He gasps. “You drive a hard bargain, my - my dear!”

She giggles. He’s such a dork. Why does she like that so much? “Sorry, how old did you say you were? Was it twenty-six or sixty-two?”

“Very funny,” he chuffs dismissively, although she suspects he is secretly pleased by her teasing. “You don’t like ‘my dear’? What can I call you instead? What about...my goddess?”

Marinette gasps, cheeks positively burning with embarrassment. “Oh my god,” she mumbles as she buries her face in her knees.

“Is that your pet name for me?” he teases, and somehow her skin goes even hotter. His voice takes on a serious quality. “Hey, do you not want me to call you that? I don’t have to, sorry. I like pet names, but I know they’re not for everyone.”

“I’m not a goddess!” she blurts, and keeps from saying that actually she likes it a lot, even though it embarrasses her. It’s just so cheesy, but then, she loves that kind of unrepentant romanticism.

“Of course you are,” he says. “Thesis is the goddess of creation. I can’t wait to see your creations and be in awe.”

“You didn’t want to go with babe or honey or something?”

“Nope.”

“I - um, yeah. O - okay. You can call me that.”

“Glad to hear it, goddess,” he purrs, and she flushes before he resumes their little game of questions. “Okay, the next question is when did you last cry in front of another person, and I am a little embarrassed to answer because I don’t want to dispel your mental image of me as a manly man.”

“That’s unfortunate, since manly men aren’t my type at all,” she says. She doesn’t add that she already knows he’s way too ridiculous to be any kind of tough guy, and frankly she’s glad for it.

“No?”

“Uh-uh,” she hums. “I actually have a thing for sensitive boys.”

He exhales. “Okay. I cried before coming on this show,” he admits. “I had to leave behind a very special friend of mine. He’s...been with me through pretty much everything and we’ve been inseparable since I was thirteen. It’s hard to be apart, not even able to talk to him. I miss him a lot.”

“I know what that’s like,” she murmurs. Her thoughts are drawn to when she had to say goodbye to Tikki before coming here, not wanting to risk exposing her identity around so many people and cameras, and she strongly relates to him in this moment, even though obviously the circumstances are different. Still, whether to a kwami or a friend, saying goodbye is still hard. “That was the last time I cried too - saying goodbye to my friends.” And by friends, of course, she means Tikki and Alya.

(Will he ever know that? Maybe one day if she marries him, but it’s still too early for that thought, so she pushes it away.)

“You stole my answer,” he says.

“Is it stealing if it’s the truth?” she asks. “Come on, do another question.”

“First again? I see how it is. The next is to share an embarrassing moment in your life.”

Marinette’s face scrunches up and she curls deeper into the couch. “You definitely need to go first. I have too many to choose from. It’s going to take me a while to figure out which one I want to share.”

His laugh is gentle, like he finds her cute, rather than like he’s laughing at her. She likes that.

She likes him.

(But enough to marry him? She doesn’t know yet.)

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you today,” Viola tells him.

“Yeah?” Adrien responds. 

He can’t say the same. Honestly, he’s having trouble thinking about her now, even though they’re on a date and he knows he’s being horribly rude.

He just...he keeps thinking about his date with Ladybug. It feels like she really could be falling for him, and how is he supposed to pay attention to any other girl when that’s a possibility?

She likes sensitive boys, she’d said, and he’d done his best to share that side of him with her, even though he still struggles to be vulnerable.

He wonders if he would have had better luck with her if he’d known that sooner. No wonder she never fell for Chat Noir with all of his swagger and bravado. As much as he tried to get her attention, it was pretty rare that he let her see deeper to the imperfect, vulnerable boy beneath it all.

“What are you thinking about?” Viola asks.

Adrien swallows. He can’t very well tell her the truth... Well, maybe part of it? 

“I’m just thinking about how I made so many mistakes when I was younger, and how I don’t want to make the same mistakes again.”

“Are you a dog or a cat person?” Cupcake asks.

“Cat,” Adrien answers automatically. “Hence the name. Bombay is a type of cat.”

“Oh,” she murmurs, sounding disappointed. “I thought it was because you’re Indian.”

“Ah, no.” He frowns. “You don’t like cats?”

“I’m a huge dog person,” she says. “I have two black labs.”

“Oh, well, I like dogs too,” he offers. “I like all animals, really. Actually, I’ve kind of always wanted a hamster.”

“A hamster?” Cupcake gasps.

“They’re cute,” he says defensively.

“Yeah, of course. Just...I have dogs. Big dogs. I could never have a pet like that. My dogs might eat it.”

He winces. “Right, bad combination,” he agrees.

Adrien wonders if that’s true of more than just dogs and hamsters.

"Tell me about your family," Keeper says. "You have oldest child energy."

Marinette laughs. "That sounds like a polite way of noticing that I'm a bit of a control freak. Actually I'm an only child. What about you?"

"I'm the second of four if you can believe it."

"Big family."

"By today's standards anyway. My parents came from bigger families—my mom is one of five and my dad's one of six—and they said they always wanted that for themselves."

"Family get togethers must be fun."

"It's okay," he laughs. "You can say crazy."

"Probably crazier than anything I can imagine. My dad's an only child, too. My mom has siblings and cousins but they're all in China, except for my one aunt in London, so I don't know them well or see them often."

"That's too bad. I'll admit that I didn't always like the chaos growing up, but now that I'm older I'm really close to my siblings. My cousins, too. Obviously there's a bit of a spread in terms of the ages, but...I love it. Family is really important to me."

Marinette bites her lip. His experience is so very different from her own. She didn't even meet her grandfather until she was fifteen! It's not that family isn't important to her, it's just that her family is so much smaller and has been so much more insular than what he's describing.

"Family's really important to me, too," is all she ends up saying.

"And what about your family plans, Thesis? Do you want a large family?"

"I don't know," she answers honestly. "When I was younger I wanted three kids, but now that sounds like a lot. I feel like I'd want to take it one kid at a time."

"That's fair," he says. "I don't think I could do less than two though. I don't want to put down your experience as an only child, but my siblings are so important to me...I want that for my kids too."

"I used to wish I had a sibling. Maybe a big brother or a little sister," Marinette admits. "Never got my wish, though. It's probably for the best that I was an only instead of an oldest. I used to babysit and I could never say no to those babydoll eyes!"

"That's because you're an only child. You didn't develop natural immunity," Keeper chuckles. "My youngest sister is crazy beautiful. When we were little she was literally like something out of one of those cherub paintings or whatever. And let me tell you I still wanted to throttle her ninety-nine percent of the time!"

She laughs. "I’ll have to take your word for it."

"Will you tell me about your family?" Thesis asks.

Adrien's stomach clenches. "What, uh, what do you want to know?"

"I mean, you’ve already told me a bit about your parents, but what about siblings?"

"A-actually I'm an only child," he admits, hands twisting in the blanket anxiously. There are a lot of negative stereotypes about only children: that they’re lonely and maladjusted and unsocialized. It’s worse in his case because he worries that it’s true. What if this changes her mind about him? "No siblings."

"Really? Me too!"

His grip on the poor, abused blanket relaxes. She doesn’t think he’s weird for this. This is something they have in common.

“I used to wish that I had a brother,” Adrien finds himself offering. But then, is it really such a surprise that he keeps sharing these little pieces of himself he’s never shared with anyone before? He’s desperately wanted Ladybug to know him as much as he’s wanted to know her all of these years. And now that he can, he can’t bring himself to hold back. “I would’ve been happy with a sister, too. It just would have been nice to have someone to share things with. I, um, was kind of lonely growing up.”

“Oh,” she says, voice soft. 

Adrien doesn’t know how to respond, afraid that he’s exposed how needy he is, how undesirable a romantic partner.

“I used to wish for a brother too,” she says. “But I wanted him to be older. I - growing up, I was bullied a lot and I guess I thought a big brother would be someone to stand up for me?”

Adrien grabs a pillow off the couch and hugs it to his chest, squeezing like he can transfer his comfort through the pillow to Thesis. The idea of Ladybug being bullied, of her knowing something of the loneliness he’s grown up with, sits in his stomach like he’s swallowed a watermelon whole. 

“I wouldn’t have expected that of you, either. You seem so strong and confident.”

“Well, I didn’t have anyone to fight those battles for me, so I had to figure out how to stand up for myself,” she says. “I used to wish for a little sister too. I had this fantasy of being for her what I wish I’d had for myself. Mostly, though, I think I just wanted a built-in friend.”

“I’m sorry that you went through that.”

“I’m sorry you were lonely too.”

He shrugs. He doesn’t want her pity. He’s pretty sure no one would think that Adrien Agreste, Supermodel^TM, requires anyone’s pity. Maybe in the early days after Maman disappeared, but it’s been several years since the public has viewed him as more than his carefully curated image: radiant, carefree, dreamy, right?

But she said she wanted to know about his family. And he wants her to know. Has wanted her to know everything for a long time.

Adrien wants her to understand him.

“I was really close with my mom growing up. I still wished I had a brother or a sister, but it wasn’t... I guess I didn’t feel so alone when she was so present in my life.”

“I remember you said you lost her when you were pretty young. In your teens, right?”

“I - yeah,” he sighs. “That was awful in and of itself. I mean, it’s my mom, you know? I wasn’t ready for it and it was hard and I missed her all of the time. But—” his voice cracks and he blinks rapidly against the tears he can feel building. He forces himself to continue, but his voice is thick and the words grate painfully against his dry throat. “But when she died, my father... He really took it hard, you know? He was never very involved as a parent. Like he loves me and I never wanted for anything, but he had a really important career and he just didn’t have a lot of time. So when she died, he became kind of a single parent. And I thought—” he exhales through his nose and his eyes burn with how stupid twelve year old Adrien was “—I thought we’d become closer with her gone. I thought we’d mourn her together.”

He presses his face into the pillow in his arms. It’s stupid that he’s getting so worked up over something that’s just a fact of his life. That he’s so upset over stupid wishes from half his lifetime ago.

“Oh, Bombay,” she murmurs and her voice is a comfort, even if he wishes it was his real name on her lips. “I’m guessing that didn’t happen?”

Adrien shakes his head and exhales heavily. “No. He, uh, he’s not really the emotional type and I guess he preferred to grieve alone. So he kind of went into isolation and I saw him even less than I had before...”

“I’m so sorry,” Thesis whispers.

“After about a year, I thought he was coming around, that he was maybe even starting to think about moving on and dating again, but he, uh, he made it pretty clear that wasn’t the case when I tried to give him my blessing. And then a year later he shut himself away even more than he had before. I - I don’t know what happened, he wouldn’t talk about it. But whatever it was, he’s never really recovered from it.”

“Bombay...I don’t know what to say...”

He laughs self-deprecatingly. “So, um, sorry I don’t have much to offer in terms of potential in-laws.”

Thesis laughs wetly. “I don’t care about that!” she says. “I’m just sad that you’ve been going through so much. But - but my parents are great. You should meet them, even if...you know, we don’t end up getting engaged or whatever. I hope we’ll still be friends, and they’ll love you and want to adopt you.”

“Oh,” he chokes, overwhelmed at the idea of getting to be part of Ladybug’s life, part of Ladybug’s family, even if she doesn’t choose him. “Thesis, goddess of creativity and strays.”

“I just want to take care of the people I - the people I care about.”

Marinette swirls her wine glass idly from her place on the couch as she waits for the cameras to film this "spontaneous" scene of the women chatting.

It's been a long day of hours spent in the pods on dates with Bombay and Keeper, and honestly at this point she's sick and tired of sitting on couches.

At least her pajamas are comfortable. ("So it feels more authentic," Julie had told the ladies, and none of them had argued.)

What Marinette wants more than anything is to transform and go for a run, stretch her legs, maybe see Chat...

That'll have to wait until the show is over, though. It’s way too risky with the ever present cameras, which is why she left her earrings with Alya.

"Okay, ladies," Julie says, clapping her hands. "Let's hear how you're all feeling about the men. Pretend we're not even here!"

Helène immediately turns to Marinette with a sharp smile. "So it's been a few days now, and Marinette and Coralie are still dating the same guys." She turns to look at Coralie now. "I'm just wondering how you two are finding that? Isn't it awkward?"

"Marinette has excellent taste," Coralie says with a laugh. 

Marinette appreciates the easy way she deflects the question. "We’re cool,” she agrees. “We agreed that we don’t want to hear about each other’s romantic developments, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

“We all knew something like this was a possibility when we decided to take part in this experiment," Penelope adds a little defensively, and Marinette is reminded that they’re not the only ones still dating more than one person. Penelope’s torn between Lupin and Sketchaholic, if she remembers correctly.

“Exactly,” Coralie agrees.

"I don’t know, I’m the jealous type. I couldn’t stand if Panther was seeing someone else," Helène states. "Don't you want to know where you really stand with these guys? For all you know they're feeding you all the same lines."

Violet frowns down into her wine glass, but declines to contribute to the conversation.

Helène’s point is certainly a possibility. Marinette has no idea what Keeper and Bombay talk about with the other girls. But their conversations have felt real, genuine. She thinks she has a real connection with both men.

"Marinette's a fashion designer. I doubt she's having conversations with the guys about forgetting vital ingredients while baking," Coralie laughs.

"I haven't, but I definitely could," Marinette says. "My parents own a bakery. I've been messing up recipes since I could walk."

"No way, that's basically my dream!" Coralie gushes. "I wish I could live and work in a bakery. Instead I have a boring office job."

"It's never too late if that's your dream. I could let you talk to my parents after the sh - experiment,  if you want?" Marinette offers.

"Oh my gosh, would you really? That would be amazing!"

She smiles warmly. "Of course."

The remaining men are all gathered around the kitchen island, drinking from various tumblers while the cameras roll, capturing the staged conversation. (Adrien’s tumbler is filled with ginger ale, but hopefully no one realizes that. He doesn’t feel like he can afford to let alcohol cloud his judgement here.)

“So,” Kieran says, smiling around at them in that infuriatingly perfect way he has, “we’re one week in. Anyone feeling ready to pop the question?”

“Yeah,” Marshall admits, quiet. “I think Bonheur is the One, you guys.”

“That’s awesome!”

“Happy for you, dude!”

A few of the guys clink their drinks with Marshall's and pat him on the back enthusiastically.

“I’m not sure,” Simon says. “I’m really falling for Pellicule, but it’s hard when she’s still dating someone else.” His eyes dart over to Liam, Pellicule’s “someone else”.

Liam just nods. Adrien wonders how he manages in the pods with how little he speaks. Maybe he's different in the pods?

“They’re not the only ones in that situation...” Bastien chimes in obnoxiously. “Kieran and Adrien, you two seem to have similar taste in women.” He finishes with an eye waggle that Adrien ignores.

It’s not like Adrien doesn’t know this. He knows he’s not the only one Thesis is seeing. Or Cupcake for that matter. One bothers him more than the other, but it’s not like he can say anything. He knew what he was getting into.

And Kieran is a great guy, handsome and friendly and in control of his own life. He can see why they like him—he has a lot to offer. If it wasn’t for this competition, he could even see them being friends. 

He just...kind of wishes he could send him off to a deserted island somewhere far away so that he’d never have to think about him or worry about him ever again. That’s all.

He doesn’t know what Thesis and Kieran talk about in the pods. Adrien isn’t privy to the details of their relationship. But Kieran has made clear that he likes her, and Adrien’s too afraid to ask her how she feels. What if she likes Kieran better? What if she’s falling in love with him?

(He can admit to himself that he’s almost as jealous of Kieran as he was of that stupid boy Ladybug was in love with when they were younger. That doesn’t make the feelings any easier to handle.)

“I guess we do,” Kieran says easily. “Cupcake and Thesis are both great girls. And Adrien, you’re still seeing another girl, too, right?”

“Um, yeah,” he agrees awkwardly. “Viola.”

Bastien laughs. “You should propose to Viola then, so you don’t have to compete with this guy.” He smacks Kieran on the shoulder playfully. “No offence, but without your pretty boy looks, you don’t have a chance.”

He says it like a joke, but Adrien can’t bring himself to laugh.

It’s not funny to him. He’s spent so much of his life being relegated to just a pretty face. He wants to be seen as more than that. That’s why he came here in the first place. The thought that, without that, he’s not enough...

It stings.

“Hey, the girls will make up their own minds,” Kieran says. “Adrien’s a great guy. I can see why they like him. We’re all here for the same thing, right? To find a wife.”

“Sure, sure,” Bastien agrees easily. “I was just joking. You know that, right, Adrien?”

“Sure,” Adrien grits out. 

“Anyway, I don’t know,” Kieran continues. “I really like both girls. I could see being happily married to either of them... I think I’ll be ready to propose soon, but to who? I don’t know yet.”

Adrien’s gut twists painfully at the idea of Kieran proposing to Thesis.

What if he does?

What if she accepts?

Chapter Text

“She said yes!” Marshall cries, bursting into the room.

The men all jump to their feet, cheering and congratulating him. Bastien appears with a bottle of champagne, which he opens with a loud pop and giant explosion of liquid.

Adrien’s own congratulations get lost in the cacophony, and he smiles, genuinely happy for Marshall.

“I can’t believe it. I love her so much, guys,” Marshall bursts. “I can’t believe she loves me, loves all of who I am inside. It’s incredible.”

Adrien keeps his smile through long practice. He is happy for Marshall.

But also...

Adrien wants that to be him. He wants to be engaged to the love of his life and happier than he can stand.

He wants her to know and love all of him.

Adrien wants Thesis to know that he’s Chat Noir.

Now he just needs to figure out how to clue her in without revealing himself to the cameras...and the world.

“So Marinette,” Julie says with a sly smile. “Couples are starting to get engaged. Are you ready to get engaged to anyone?”

Marinette shakes her head. “I don’t know how anyone can be ready to get engaged already. I really like Bombay and Keeper, but...I’m not ready for a lifetime commitment just yet.”

“Have you given any thought to how they’d fit into your life? How they’d get along with your friends?” she asks.

“I mean, they’re both great guys. I’m sure my friends would love them both.”

“Anyone in particular that you think either of them would get along with?” Julie presses. “Or maybe that they remind you of?”

“Um.” Marinette frowns. What an odd question. “Not really?”

“What about any of your old boyfriends? Like Adrien Agreste?” Julie presses.

Marinette shifts uncomfortably. Was she chosen for this show just because of her connection to Adrien? This is ridiculous! “Look,” she snaps. “Adrien and I never dated, I told you that. And just because I had a crush on him doesn’t mean I’m comparing every guy I date to him!”

Julie smiles brilliantly.

Why’s she so happy? Marinette replays back what she said and goes a little lightheaded as she realizes what she just admitted.

“Can you—” she licks her lips “—can you maybe not air the part where I admitted to having a crush on Adrien?”

Julie shakes her head, looking pleased as can be, and Marinette buries her face in her hands. She’ll just have to hope that Adrien never, ever watches this. Or hears about this. Or...

She sighs. She’s screwed.

Marinette can only hope that, by the time this airs, she'll be happily married, and she and Adrien can laugh this off.

“Hey, you’re a Parisian native, right?” Adrien starts with, even though he’s pretty sure he knows the answer.

“I - yes?” Thesis answers cautiously. “I’ve lived in Paris my whole life.”

“Me too,” he says. “What’s your favourite place in the city?”

“Is this a test to see if I give you some kind of touristy answer?” she laughs. “Like, what if I say the Eiffel Tower?”

“As long as you’re saying ‘Oh Bombay, Eiffel for you!’”

“Oh no,” she groans. “You’re going to need to up your pun game if you want to impress me. I’ve been punned at by the best.”

“Oh yeah?” Does she mean Chat Noir? His stomach flips. He can’t get distracted from his goal though. He wants Thesis to see all of him. “The Eiffel Tower is very popular with tourists, it’s true, but I’m fond of the the view from the top.”

“Yeah,” she murmurs and he has no doubt she’s thinking about all the time they’ve spent up there together. He wonders if she’ll allude to it at all and give him more of an opening. “I don’t know if I have a favourite spot, to be honest. The city’s so big and it has so many diverse features, it’s hard to pick one. Even when I’m looking for design inspiration! Sometimes, I want the natural beauty of flowers and trees and I go to the Luxembourg Gardens or the Wood of Vincennes. Sometimes, I want to be inspired by architecture and I seek out the grandeur of Notre-Dame or Versailles. And sometimes, I just want to sit on the park bench near my home and people watch and see what happens.”

Adrien smiles. He wants to visit each and every one of those places, and several others, with her. They’ve been all over the city together, but they’ve never taken the time to take in all of its beautiful sights together. He imagines that the experience is very different from the ground, walking hand in hand under the beams of the Eiffel Tower and romantic picnics in the gardens midday, just another couple. He loves being a superhero, but he wants to experience the romance of their city as a regular, civilian couple. That’s his dream.

“What about you?” she prompts.

“Hmmm,” he pretends to consider. “I guess I would have to say Montparnasse Tower.”

“What? But it’s such an eyesore!” she gasps. “That’s a joke, right? You’re messing with me.”

He grins. That’s exactly the kind of response he expected from her. “It’s not much to look at,” he agrees, “but there’s a great view from the top, and I have some really positive associations with it. Some wonderful things in my life have happened there.” 

He can’t say he’s made great memories there, exactly, since he doesn’t remember the fight against Oblivio, or how he made her fall for him that time, or their kiss. And he can’t make a joke about how he fell for her there since he wants her to realize he’s Chat Noir, her partner, and not Adrien Agreste, that model she rescued a few times. 

(He’ll worry about what she thinks about that revelation later. He hopes his celebrity won’t be an issue for her, but it’s not like he gets followed by paparazzi all the time. Just...when a new ad comes out. And probably, ugh, when the show airs. But it’s too late to do anything about that, and anyway, she’ll probably get a lot of attention from being on the show too. He just hopes that it’s something they can navigate together.)

“Ah, well, the associations can make a big difference,” she says with no indication of any further recognition.

“A pawsitive association makes all the dif-fur-ence,” he agrees.

She huffs a laugh. “Keep trying.”

He intends to.

“I’m still living at home, actually,” Marinette explains. “Rent is so expensive and my parents are great. They give me space and privacy. Plus it’s nice to come home from a long day of work to find that someone else has already made dinner.”

“I can see that,” Keeper says. “I guess there’s a lot more space when you’re an only child.”

“Yeah, I’ve never had to share a room or anything like that.” Well, not unless you count the kwamis.

“I had to share with my older brother until I moved out, so I pretty much did it as soon as I could afford to,” he tells her. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother, but it’s a lot to share a room with someone. We get along even better now that we’re not living right on top of each other. Plus, it’s a little hard to date without having any kind of private space, you know what I mean?”

“Not really...” Marinette bites her lip. She feels like she should have a lot more dating experience by this point in her life. It’s weird that she hasn’t, isn’t it?

“Right, you have your own bedroom,” Keeper says, misunderstanding her. “Plus I don’t know what your parents are like but mine had some strict rules about us being alone in our bedrooms with girlfriends and boyfriends. They want grandchildren but not before we’re married.” He chuckles.

She should probably explain. He should know about her dating history—or lack thereof.

It’s just...awkward.

“What are your parents like?” he asks, and the opportunity is lost.

Marinette stifles a sigh—she’s not sure if she’s disappointed or relieved—and tucks her legs up under her to lean against the arm of the couch.

“Papa’s super enthusiastic about everything. He’s always happy and welcoming with everyone, although he can be a little overprotective of me,” she says.

“Daddy’s little girl,” he suggests knowingly.

“I...guess?” She’s never really thought of herself that way and she’s not sure it fits. She tends to think she’s equally close to both of her parents. “Maman is calmer. She’s still very warm and welcoming, but in a quieter way. I think they balance each other out.”

“Sounds like a healthy basis for a relationship,” he says. “Balance is important.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“How are you feeling now?” Claude asks. “Couples are starting to get engaged. Are you getting close to proposing to anyone?”

“I...maybe I’ll propose. Thinking about it,” Adrien answers noncommittally.

It’s a lie, of course. If he thought Ladybug would accept, he’d propose on the spot. But they don’t need to know that yet.

“Hmmm,” Claude hums. “Have you thought about how they’d fit into your life? How they’d get along with your friends?”

Adrien’s been thinking about how Ladybug would fit into his life for a lot longer than he's been on this show. She’s so amazing, of course his friends would love her. And his friends are wonderful too, so he’s sure she’d love them as well.

“Of course.” 

“Anyone in particular that you think Thesis, Cupcake or Viola would get along with?” Claude asks. “Or maybe that they remind you of?”

“Yeah, actually. Thesis and Cupcake both remind me of my friend, Marinette. Thesis and Marinette are both into fashion, and Cupcake loves to bake and Marinette’s family owns a bakery,” he answers. “And Viola reminds me a bit of my friends, Juleka and Luka, who are really into music. I think they’d all get along great!”

“Thanks, Adrien,” Claude says, grinning.

"Hey...Bombay?" Marinette asks uncertainly.

"Yeah?"

She bites her lip, gathering her courage and pushing through her anxiety. "I just...you're still dating other women, right?"

It's not a real question. She knows he is. But still he answers her.

"I...yeah. Does that...bother you?" Bombay sounds uncertain too.

"I guess I just wonder what that means for us. If you're serious about me or..." she trails off, letting the implication hang.

"I'm serious," he says, firm. "I - I’m really falling for you. Do you want me to stop seeing them? Because I will. Just - just say the word and..."

Marinette's skin feels tight and hot. She believes him—if she asks him to, he'll only date her. He hasn't even made a reciprocal request of her. But she can't ask him to do what she's unwilling to do herself, and she's just not there yet.

It's only been a week, she reminds herself. Yet, with the hours long daily dates and the intimacy of the pods, it feels much longer. Plus even though it’s not a race and she knows not everyone will get engaged, now that Brienne has said yes, she’s feeling pressured to decide.

She's not ready to say she's in love yet with either of them (even if she finds her thoughts bending in a certain direction more and more often), and so she's not ready to stop.

She probably shouldn't have even asked him about the other girls in the circumstances, but she needed to know how he feels.

"Why are you still seeing them, if you'd stop just because I asked you to?" she asks instead of giving voice to any of her thoughts.

"This isn't going to make me sound very good," he mutters and she tries to imagine what he’s doing right now. Is he ducking his head? Running his hands through his hair? Staring straight ahead? "I...like you. A lot. I can really see a future with you and, god, I’m falling for you hard. But...I have no idea how you feel about me and..." He's quiet for a moment before he continues, "I guess if you're not developing feelings for me I didn't want to lose the chance to try with someone else?" He groans. "I'm sorry, I know that sounds awful."

"I - no," she blurts, warm and flattered and anxious all at once. "I like you a lot. And...I think I’m falling for you too."

"Yeah?" he says, so warm she can hear the smile in his voice.

She smiles too. "Yeah."

Adrien leaves his date with Thesis feeling excited and guilty.

Thesis said she’s falling for him. 

Ladybug is falling for him!

Or she thinks she is anyway. Close enough for him.

He’s so happy he could jump into the air and fly, just like he did in that perfume ad when he was fourteen, except a lot more authentic.

But that just drives home that there’s no question of where his heart lies. It’s not fair to Cupcake or Viola to keep dating them when he’s in love with Thesis. They deserve better than to be his fallback plan.

Even though Thesis didn’t ask him to, he needs to end things with both of them.

“Hey Keeper,” Marinette greets from her place at the sideboard. She grabs a bottle of water and a bag of candy before heading back to the couch.

“Hey Thesis, I missed you,” he murmurs.

“Yeah?” She smiles before remembering what she wanted to talk about. “Hey, can we talk for a minute?”

“Of course,” Keeper says. “I’ve got all the time in the world for you.”

“You’re still dating someone else,” she begins, pulling at the water bottle label.

“You’re still dating someone else too, aren’t you?” he returns.

“Yes, sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out like an accusation! I just - I’m trying to figure out what that means for us.”

“I think it means we’re both still trying to figure out if we’re ready to commit the rest of our lives to a person we’ve only known for a week.” When he says it like that, it sounds so reasonable. “Look, Thesis, I like you a lot, but I also really like Cupcake. I’m not ready to make a commitment either way yet.”

She bites her lip. Hadn’t she said the same thing to Bombay? “That’s fair,” she says slowly, struggling to put her discomfort into words. “I guess I’m just trying to figure out how serious you are about me...”

“How serious are you about me?”

Marinette peels away the bottle label in little strips, but she stays quiet. She doesn’t have an answer for him.

He laughs a little when she says nothing. “Right. It sounds like we’re in the same boat.”

“I really like you!” she promises. “This is all just happening really fast and I don’t know how to feel about it.”

“So let’s not rush it any more than we have to,” he suggests. “We’ve still got time.”

“Right, time.”

“Viola, you’re really wonderful,” Adrien begins.

“I think you’re wonderful too,” she gushes, and he winces.

“The thing is,” he continues awkwardly, “I don’t see a future for us.”

“What?” she gasps.

“I’m sorry,” he says miserably.

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“I’m sorry,” he says again.

A loud sob comes through the glass and he runs his hands through his hair, feeling like the world’s worst person.

“I - I need to get out of here,” she sniffles and then her cries sound fainter before disappearing entirely.

Adrien swallows uncomfortably.

It’s the right thing to do. It’s necessary. But still, he feels terrible.

“You’re a generous and sincere person, Cupcake, and I’m so glad that I got to know you.”

Adrien sits on the couch with his face buried in his hands. He keeps glancing at the screen separating him from Cupcake, like it will make a difference. It just feels wrong to be having this conversation without being able to see her.

“You say that like you’re breaking up with me...” she says.

Adrien winces. “I’m sorry.”

He hates knowing that he’s hurting her.

“You’re breaking up with me?”

“I really think you’re amazing and I - I like you a lot. I just...I’m in love with someone else.”

Her laugh is strained and wrong, and it pierces his heart.

“Right.”

“I’m sorry,” he says again.

She sighs. “It’s...I won’t say it’s fine because it’s not, but...I guess I should be glad that you were honest with me.”

“Sorry,” he repeats helplessly, like a broken record.

He hopes he never needs to break up with anyone ever again.

“So you mentioned that you have family back in China,” Keeper begins. “Were you born there?”

“I - no,” Marinette answers cautiously, wary of where this line of questioning might be going. Is it well meant or is she about to learn a guy she really likes is secretly a racist dick? Well, better to find out now rather than after she’s agreed to marry him, right? “I was born in France, like my Papa, but Maman didn’t come to France until she was in her early twenties, I think.”

“Oh, that’s kind of similar to my background, except neither of my parents were born in France. Maman’s from Ireland and Papa’s from Morocco, though they came over when they were still kids.”

“One of my best friends is Moroccan!” she exclaims, relieved the question was sincerely meant and happy to know more about him. “Do you have much connection to either country’s culture?”

“Not as much as I’d like,” he answers honestly. “France...isn’t exactly an easy place to be visibly different and, honestly, when I was younger I just wanted to fit in with my peers. I wasn’t really interested in learning about my parents’ heritage. What about you?”

“I know what you mean,” she murmurs. “I can’t even speak Mandarin. I didn’t even care about it until I was fourteen and my uncle came to visit and I realized I couldn’t communicate with him. I had to get a friend to help me out before I learned that my uncle could actually speak French after all. After that, I thought it might be nice to learn, but I was already juggling so many different things, and it’s hard to learn another language. So I just never did.”

“Do you still think about learning?”

She shakes her head. “I would still like to. I really regretted not making the time when I visited Shanghai. I got separated from my family and lost something important to me, and not being able to communicate was very stressful.”

“I can imagine,” he says. “I know enough Arabic to get by at a wedding—I’ve been over a few times for celebrations and funerals and such. It’s always a bit of a weird situation though because I feel a little like I don’t fit. I have an Irish first name, an Arabic last name, and not enough knowledge of either culture to really connect.”

“My last name is hyphenated.”

“Okay, so you probably can relate.”

“My collège bully loved to emphasize the Chinese part of my last name growing up.”

“What an asshole.” He coughs. “Excuse me for swearing.”

She laughs. “Yeah, she was. She eventually did some self-reflection and grew up, but...yeah.”

“It’s nice to have someone to talk about these kinds of experiences with,” he says. “It’s pretty rare that I meet someone who can relate.”

“Yeah,” Marinette agrees with a smile. Talking to Keeper is easy, and she feels understood. It makes her feel warm and comfortable, like when she talks to Alya. “Yeah it is.”

Marinette returns to the common room from her date with Keeper feeling even more confused than she had when she left it.

How is she supposed to figure out her messy feelings?

Bombay seems to be the more committed of the two, and she likes that about him, but she can’t help but remember Helène’s words about how they have no real way of knowing what the guys are telling each of them. (Well, not without comparing notes, but she doesn’t want to do that.) How does she know that he’s not telling Coralie and Violet the same thing?

And while Keeper seems as divided as she is, now that she’s seen that there’s even more to him than she first realized, and they have common experiences, she wants to get to know him even better.

Besides, even if Bombay is sincere in being ready to choose her, she doesn’t want that to be the reason why she chooses him.

She wants to choose him because she wants to marry him.

“Hey, what’s going on?” she wonders when she takes in the scene in front of her. Coralie and Violet are on the couch with the rest of the girls around them, hugging them and offering them drinks. Coralie is visibly upset and Violet is outright crying.

Brienne approaches and takes Marinette aside. “Bombay ended things with them,” she tells her quietly.

Marinette can’t help the way her pulse picks up, even as she feels bad for the other girls. (She wants to offer them comfort, but doubts they want that from her right now.)

He ended things with them, even though she didn’t ask him to.

He picked her.

She’s way too happy about this.

Oh.

Oh.

Chapter Text

When Marinette walks into the girls’ common room the next morning, the first thing she notices is Coralie sitting at the breakfast bar, eating.

She swallows down the nerves that rise up at the sight. She hasn’t talked to Coralie at all since Bombay broke up with her. Violet left last night, eliminated from the show once she was no longer dating anyone, and it had been supremely awkward. Marinette hadn’t managed more than a stilted “Goodbye and good luck,” which Violet hadn’t seemed to appreciate coming from her.

Marinette didn’t blame her.

But Coralie is still here and she’s repeatedly reached out to Marinette throughout this process. They’re friends.

Marinette owes it to her to at least try.

“Hey, um, good morning,” she says, twisting her hands together.

Coralie looks up at her and sighs. “I don’t blame you, you know.”

Marinette grabs a croissant from the basket on the counter (they’re yummy, even if they’re not as good as Papa’s) and sits down on the stool next to Coralie.

“I don’t think anyone would blame you if you did.”

Coralie shrugs. “For what? Doing what we all came here for? Dating and making someone fall for you? We all knew we were going to have to make choices sooner or later.”

“You’re very pragmatic,” Marinette observes before biting into her croissant. Definitely not as good as Papa’s. A pang of homesickness pierces her, but she ignores it.

“Yeah,” Coralie agrees. “I meant it though. I’m not upset with you. I’m not really upset with Bombay either, though I’m disappointed. Although...not as disappointed as I expected to be. Or maybe it’s not surprising. Bombay isn’t a dog person! Can you imagine?”

Marinette laughs. “He wants a cat, right?” They haven’t discussed pets really, but she remembers that’s where his alias had come from.

“Or a hamster, if you can believe it,” Coralie says with a shake of her head.

Marinette’s heart picks up. “I love hamsters,” she breathes.

“Of course you do,” Coralie mutters, but there’s no bitterness. If anything, she seems amused. She hesitates, biting her lip, before asking, “So - um - now that Bombay is only seeing you...have you decided what you want? With Keeper?”

“Oh, um...I - I don’t know. I still like him too. Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to pressure you. I just...”

“No, it’s fine,” Marinette blurts. “I get it. I just - I need to figure it out.”

Adrien perks up at the sound of someone coming into the adjoining pod, and warmth fills his chest when Thesis greets him, voice warm and sweet.

“Good morning, goddess,” he returns.

“So...things have been a little crazy back on the girls’ side,” she tells him. “I, um, I heard you broke up with Co - Cupcake and Viola.”

"I - yeah," Adrien answers. "After our last date, I realized I wasn't being fair to them when - when the only person I can imagine marrying is you."

"Oh."

When Thesis doesn't say anything else right away, Adrien leans forward, with his arms on his legs, staring at the screen like that will give him some insight into what she's thinking.

Was that too much?

He can't regret saying it though. He's been holding back throughout this process because it would've been too early to speak his heart and confess his love on that first date. He knows that. But he needs to be honest now about where his heart lies. There was really never any question.

"I'm really happy," she admits. "I didn't know it would affect me so much, but when I heard..."

His heart skips a beat before making up for it by speeding up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah and - just now. When you said you could imagine marrying me..." His breath catches as she trails off, hesitating. "I've been imagining it too."

“Oh.” Adrien is practically floating off the couch.

“Is it - is it going to be a problem that I’m still dating Keeper?” she asks.

The reminder has Adrien crashing back down to Earth. He bites his lip. “I mean...I’m not going to pretend that I’m happy about it,” he answers honestly. “Of course I want to be the only one you’re with. But I’m not going to pressure you. I just...hope that I’m the one you choose in the end.”

She’s quiet for a moment, and he wishes desperately that he could see her face. He has no idea what she’s thinking. But she said she’s been imagining marrying him. He’s come so much farther than he ever dreamed possible, and in such a short amount of time.

“Thank you for your patience,” she says finally.

I’d wait forever for you, Adrien doesn’t say, although he thinks it. He feels like he already has. What’s a little longer?

“Are you a spender or a thrifter?” Thesis asks.

It takes Adrien a little time to process the question before he understands. “You mean how am I with money?”

“Yeah,” she says. “Just trying to get an idea of what it would be like, you know, if we got married...”

Adrien’s chest is warm, warm, warm at the suggestion, at the fact that Thesis is the one who brought it up.

“I guess I’m a spender?” he offers uncertainly. “I’ve never really thought about it before, to be honest. It’s just...not something I’ve had to worry about.” He winces. Does that sound like he’s bragging?

“Not worried about it because you're comfortable or because you’ve been running up your credit cards?” Her tone is teasing, but he thinks the question is genuine underneath all of that.

And, well, it’s fair. If there’s a chance that they’re going to get married, finances are one of those things they should talk about, right?

“Comfortable,” he answers. “I pay my bills on time and I’m not in debt or anything like that.” He grins so that his next words will come out playful. He still hasn’t given up on helping her to recognize him. “If we get married, you can bank on being com-fur-table for the rest of your life.”

“Well, I guess that’s good to know,” Thesis says easily, “but I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

No hint of recognition. Damn.

“I don’t doubt it,” he rushes to assure. “I didn’t mean to imply that I didn’t think you were capable.” Adrien would never. He knows exactly how capable she is! He’s seen how brilliant Ladybug is, the way she’s able to find a solution to every problem, and how she never backs down from a challenge. “What about you? Are you a spender or a thrifter?”

“Spender,” she says with a laugh. “I try to be thrifty about it, but I have very poor impulse control. Don’t worry, though. I’m not going to get you blacklisted by the Bank of France.”

There she goes again. Hinting at the idea of them getting married.

He’s not sure his heart can take it.

“I’m not worried at all.”

It’s strange to be on a date with Keeper, knowing he’s still seeing Coralie, knowing Bombay has already chosen Marinette... Knowing the way that knowledge made her feel.

Marinette owes it to herself to be sure about her feelings before making any decisions. She told herself she didn’t want to choose Bombay just because he chose her, and that’s still true. She is beginning to understand the feelings she’s developing for Bombay...but what are her feelings for Keeper? Can he make her heart flutter the same way? She owes it to herself to find out.

“Did you have pets growing up?” Keeper asks.

“No,” Marinette says, shaking her head. She can’t help but think about what Coralie said about Bombay wanting a hamster as she confesses, “I always dreamed of getting a hamster, but that dream will have to wait until I move out. My parents run a bakery, so pets have always been out of the question.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

“What about you?” 

“Yeah, actually,” he says, chuckling. “You’d think the craziness of four kids would be enough, but we also had two cats and a dog.”

“Oh my gosh,” she gasps. “That’s a full house!”

“Right? I dig the craziness though. I’d love to have a couple pets once I settle down - maybe a big dog like we used to have. I’m thinking a german shepherd or a black lab. Something like that.”

“Wow,” Marinette murmurs. She’s always wanted a pet but...she’s not sure she’s up for all of that. “Aren’t dogs a lot of work?”

“Well, they need exercise, so you need to make sure you take them for walks and play with them, but I go for a run every day anyway. I’m sure I could incorporate the dog into my workout in a way that’s fun for both of us.”

“I guess as long as I don’t have to be the responsible one,” she says with an awkward chuckle. Her heart beats steadily in her chest.

“If we got married...” Thesis begins and Adrien’s heart races. His hopes are so high he’s sure that if she doesn’t choose him after all of this he’s going to die. “What do you imagine our lives looking like? Like, are you looking to get started having a family right away? Or...?”

Adrien bites back the first words that want to spring forth: Whatever you want, anything you want, as long as I get to share it with you.

He wants to know what she imagines and what she thinks and dreams about. She deserves the same honesty from him.

“I don’t want to have kids right away,” he says, and hopes that’s not an issue for her. “I do want them, but... I love the idea of just having time to spend with my wife, just the two of us, just enjoying that new stage of our lives together. Plus, I don’t know, I think kids are a lot of responsibility and I - I’ve told you I’m still figuring myself out. I think it might be harder to make a change if there were children in the picture.”

“I’m not ready to have kids right away either,” she says and he feels a rush of relief. “I want them too but I’m so busy with work right now and building my career. I don’t want to take the time out for it. And besides, I still don’t feel like a real adult half the time, I’m such a disaster.” She laughs a little awkwardly and gosh, she’s so cute. “I can’t imagine being responsible for another human being.”

“Glad we’re on the same page,” he murmurs. “So what do you imagine married life looking like?”

“Well, I imagine it involves moving out of my parents’ and finding a place with my husband to start,” she offers.

“I have an apartment. You could move in with me,” he blurts.

“Perfect. And we could just...spend time together. Make brunch together on lazy Sunday mornings and joke around with each other in the evenings when we’re stressed from work and have all of our friends over on a Saturday afternoon for a video game tournament or, I don’t know, if that’s not adult enough maybe a dinner party.”

Adrien hasn’t been in a serious relationship before. He’s not sure what it’s supposed to look like. But does he ever hope that it looks like that.

“Perfect,” he echoes.

“So...” Keeper drawls. “Are you a cuddler or are you one of those people who needs their own space when they sleep?”

Marinette’s cheeks feel warm. She’s only ever shared a bed with friends at sleepovers and such. It’s not that she’s never hooked up with anyone, although she’s never seriously dated, but there was never any spending the night afterward.

She loves the idea of cuddling, but when she imagines it, her thoughts veer in a different direction...

“I’ve been told that I’m a restless sleeper,” she admits. “I have a tendency to move around a lot during the night.”

“That’s too bad,” he murmurs. “There’s just something about a really good hug, don’t you think?”

“I do like hugs...”

“Just not a cuddler.”

She shrugs helplessly, even if he can’t see it. She thinks she might be. She wants to be. But when she thinks of cuddling through the night, it’s not Keeper she’s imagining.

“You’ve told me about your family. What about your friends?” Marinette asks, curling up in the corner of the couch and covering herself with a blanket.

“Really?” Bombay sounds surprised. “I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without gushing about them. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I mean, you know my home life has been kind of strained, and while I haven’t always been especially open about that, my friends have always done what they could to be there for me.”

Marinette tries to imagine the friends who have supported Bombay through what she knows is a difficult family situation. She wishes she could be one of them. “I’m so happy that you have people in your life who care about you,” she tells him softly.

“Me too,” he agrees warmly. “My best friend is actually married to one of my other best friends. They’ve been together since collège if you can believe it.”

“I can. My best friend married her collège sweetheart too.”

“That’s so cool!” he exclaims. “He’s a really great guy, I hope you get to meet him. He’s been there for me through everything, always willing to listen or even to try to change my father’s mind when he was being unfair, for all that ever worked.” He laughs self-deprecatingly. “It always meant a lot to me that he tried, you know?”

“I’m glad you had someone in your corner.”

“He wasn’t the only one. One of my other best friends was actually able to convince my father to ease up on me and let me do things with my friends or even the whole class a few times. Ha, I guess even my father’s stubbornness couldn’t hold up against her determination and sense of justice!”

“She sounds impressive. Your friends sound wonderful.”

“They are,” he agrees, warm. “I think you’d get along really well with them.”

“I’m sure I would.”

“I just - I keep imagining us all hanging out together and going on double dates with my best friends and...it makes me really, really happy.”

Liquid warmth fills her. “Yes,” she says. She loves the way he keeps imagining her as part of his life. She wants to complete that picture. And bring him into her life too. “Let’s make it a triple date with my best friends too.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Perfect.”

"I just...I really love spending time with you," Bombay says, and a thrill of happiness goes through her.

"Me too," she gushes. "This time with you is so special. I feel so close to you."

"The times when I have the most fun, my favorite moments, are when I'm with you," he murmurs softly.

Marinette gasps. Recognition zings down her spine with such force she shivers with it.

She knows him.

It all comes together: the jokes and the sweetness and the warmth that bursts in her chest whenever they're together.

Oh goodness, she knows exactly who's on the other side of that wall.

"Thesis?"

She's been quiet too long.

She can't even remember what they were talking about, can't focus on anything but the chorus of it's him it's him it's him crowding her brain.

She needs to be sure.

But how? There are cameras on them recording their every move. Maybe if she'd brought Tikki with her, since her kwami wouldn't show on video, but no, she made the right call. That would be too dangerous exactly because there are cameras and people everywhere. Even if her kwami wouldn’t show on camera, there’s too much of a chance that she would let something slip. It’s better this way.

Her eyes flick around the room as her mind works at a furious pace.

"Thesis?" he calls again. "Did you leave?"

"You - you said you had a cat," Marinette blurts, too loud, but she can't help herself. "That first day."

"I did..."

She swallows. If she's wrong, he's going to think she's really weird. But if she's right...

"Did your, um, cat...did he...have weird taste in food?"

His inhale is so sharp, she hears it through the wall. "Yes," he says. "He, um, he liked cheese."

Marinette's whole body goes hot and her pulse pounds in her ears. 

It's him. It's him, it's him, it's him.

"Camembert?" she presses.

"His favourite," he chokes around a laugh. "It's almost like you met him before."

"I...have a friend with a cat like that," she offers.

"He must be super cool."

"He's a giant dork."

"Oh," he says, his voice gone quiet. She curses inwardly. He knows and she knows and he knows that she knows now and he must think that her feelings have changed now that she knows who he is, but they haven't. They haven't!

Actually, she realizes with a jolt, they’ve only grown.

"I - I like that, though. He makes me laugh. And - and he's brave and sweet and kind and...you remind me of him a lot, actually."

"Is he the kind of guy you would want to date?"

"I never gave him a chance because I was hung up on someone else. But...I think that was a mistake. Or maybe not!" she corrects rapidly, remembering the cameras and wondering what people will read into this strange, coded conversation. "It doesn't really matter now because - because I'm here with you now, and that's where I want to be."

He’s quiet for several long seconds and she wonders what he’s thinking. Has she made a mess of things? Does he understand what she’s trying to say?

"I love you," he says, voice rough with emotion.

"I love you too," Marinette says, beaming at the screen between them, beaming in the direction of Chat, Bombay, whatever his real name is. This kind, wonderful man that she’s spent years pushing away, and now she’s fallen for him, and she hates that there’s this barrier between them. 

Bombay is her Chat Noir and suddenly it’s not a blind date anymore. She knows him—they’ve been face to face (and fought back to back) before—she knows his face, knows the stretch of his mouth as he grins, knows the tousle of his messy golden hair, knows the warmth of his complexion and the cut of his jaw. She knows what Bombay looks like! Everything except for what his mask covers...and what the miraculous magic hides. 

She tries to remember back to when he used her earrings—his eyes really are green, she recalls, but what is their exact shade? She wants to see his real eyes again, wants to lose herself in his warm gaze.

She wants to see his face without the mask.

She loves him, all of him, and she wants to see and know all of him without anything keeping them apart.

Marinette stares at the screen, and tries to imagine Chat in the stars and snowflakes of the divider.

"I wish I could see you right now," she admits.

He chuckles wetly. "Maybe it's for the best that you can't. I'm feeling pretty emotional right now."

"Then I wish I could be there to hold you."

"I wish that too," he whispers.

“Hey,” she says, jumping to her feet as an idea occurs to her. “Get up.”

“O...kay...?” he says, but she’s sure he’s standing. Her Chaton always follows her lead. She loves him for it.

She loves him, period.

Marinette approaches the partition screen. It glows softly. She places her hand against it.

“Oh,” she hears from across the wall. “I - the screen changed. It’s glowing in one spot. I think I see your hand.”

And then she’s seeing the pressure of his hand too, held against the divider, right on the other side of her hand. If not for the screen, they’d be touching.

“I love you,” she whispers.

“I love you,” he echoes. “I...wish there wasn’t anything between us right now.”

There’s always something between them, isn’t there? Their masks, their secrets, the weight of their secret identities and responsibilities and all of the things she didn’t think it was safe for them to know.

And now this wall.

If only she’d seen what was in front of her sooner.

If only they could be together now, without the cameras, without the other participants, without this wall between them.

If only...

“Me too.”

Adrien practically floats back to the common room.

She loves him.

Ladybug loves him.

She knows who he is, knows he's Chat Noir, and she still loves him.

He's pretty sure he's never been so happy in all of his life.

“Adrien?” Claude calls, startling him out of his reverie. “Come on, we need you to do a confessional.”

“Oh, um, okay,” he agrees, allowing himself to be led to the small greenroom where they film these.

He sits down and looks over at Claude expectantly.

“You and Thesis just confessed your love to each other,” he exclaims, exasperated. “Tell us about it!”

Oh, right. He’s too giddy to think straight.

He turns to the camera. “I’m so happy right now,” he gushes. “I came here to find someone to love me for me and I found her. I was really attracted to Thesis’s personality right from the very beginning. It’s been a little nerve-wracking, honestly.” He breaks off to chuckle self-deprecatingly. “Because I knew I was falling for her, but I wasn’t sure she felt the same way...”

“She’s still seeing Kieran,” Claude reminds him helpfully.

Adrien frowns. Why is Claude provoking him now? He knows Claude is looking for some good sound bites, but he expected him to let him gush a little more first.

“And even though I don’t know what’s happening between Thesis and Kieran, she loves me. I know that means something and...” He exhales. No sense holding back at this point. “I want to marry her.”

He was right. All those years ago when Chat told her she wouldn’t be able to resist him without the mask...he was right. Only it was never the black mask that concealed his identity from her, but rather the front he put up that kept her from seeing the real him.

The real Chat Noir is amazing. He's everything she’s ever wanted, and she loves him.

Marinette beams into the camera. “We love each other!” she exclaims. “I really didn’t have high hopes when I decided to do this experiment. I’ve only been in love once before and I wasn’t sure if I would fall in love again, but...” She sighs dreamily. “I love him. I do.”

“Are you ready to marry him?”

Marinette’s lips curve mysteriously. “I guess we’ll have to see if he asks me.”

When Marinette returns to the common room from her confessional, still high off of the realization that Bombay is her Chaton and they love each other, it’s to quite the commotion.

“I still think a footballer is most likely,” Coralie says.

“It could be an actor,” Brienne insists.

“Oh please, no one that famous would come on a show like this. What would even be the point, when we can’t see his face?” Helène demands with a roll of her eyes.

“Well...” Penelope teases with a knowing smile.

“What is everyone talking about?” Marinette wonders.

“Right, you were doing a confessional and didn’t hear!” Brienne exclaims. “Penelope just came back from her date with Lupin and apparently he wasn’t supposed to say anything, but he told her one of the men is famous! That’s the reason we all have to use aliases. Isn’t that wild?”

“Wild,” Marinette echoes, distracted. That’s interesting, she supposes, but she can’t find the energy to really care. She’s too busy being utterly lovestruck.

Brienne looks at her suspiciously. “What’s with you?”

“Bombay and I said we love each other,” she admits with a dopey little smile.

Brienne laughs. “No wonder you don’t care. Well, I still think it’s interesting.”

“What if he’s a model? I wonder if he’s done any underwear shoots,” Helène says with a suggestive tilt of her brows.

Marinette finds her cheeks flooding with colour unexpectedly as she’s forcefully reminded of the only model she’s ever followed and one particular photoshoot that had basically incapacitated her for a week.

She doesn’t want to be thinking of him now! She’s finally over Adrien. She’s in love with Chat Noir!

Thankfully no one seems to notice her reaction as they continue debating.

“I’m telling you, it’s going to be an athlete!” Coralie insists.

Their excited chatter comes to a sudden halt as Clara and XY walk into the room.

This is completely unexpected. They haven’t seen them since the first day, and really Marinette hadn’t expected to. She understood from some of the girls who had watched the American and Brazilian shows that the hosts’ role was minimal. 

“We have sad news,” Clara intones. “For this experiment to work, everyone has to follow the process. Unfortunately, someone has broken the rules.”

“We told you: no identifying information and no sharing each other’s identifying information either,” XY says, crossing his arms and shaking his head with a disappointed frown. “Not cool.”

“Lupin has been removed from the experiment.”

Penelope gasps and tears spring to her eyes.

“And Penelope?” XY says. “If you share any more of what you learned, you will be as well.”

“I - I understand,” Penelope whispers before bursting into tears. Coralie and Brienne sweep her into their embrace, and she cries in their arms.

A small part of Marinette feels bad for Penelope, but most of her is still back in the pods with Chat. 

Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this anyway? Of course someone famous would want to be anonymous to find someone who loves them for the right reasons, and not just based on their public image. She wouldn’t want to be on a dating show openly as Ladybug for the same reason. (Ironic, since the person she fell in love with is the one man who has known and loved the real Ladybug all along.) Of course this guy, whoever he is, wants real love. Love like the one she and Chat missed out on so long ago. Love like the one she’s been lucky enough to find a second time.

Clara and XY leave the room and the girls break into excited chatter again, but Marinette tunes it out.

All of her thoughts are focused on the other side of the building: on Bombay, on her Chaton, on her love.

Chapter Text

Adrien returns from his confessional to a major commotion. 

Clara and XY are standing in the middle of the common room with hands on hips, and arms crossed, respectively, while the men gather around them.

"Please, you can't do this!" Liam exclaims from his positions directly in front of them. "I love her."

"The rules of the experiment are clear," Clara states dispassionately. "We cannot have anyone interfering with the integrity of the experiment."

"Integrity?? Come on, it's a fucking reality show! So I told Pellicule what was going on here. Big deal."

"It is a big deal," she insists. "You revealed another participant."

"She's not even dating him! It's not like it matters."

"Adrien deserves the chance to find love without preconceptions, the same as any of you."

Adrien jolts on hearing his name, and approaches. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, man," XY says. "I know you wanted to stay anonymous through the pods but Liam here told Pellicule who you are."

"Oh." Adrien frowns.

"He's being removed from the experiment."

"Isn't that...a little extreme? I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by it," Adrien protests. "And it's not such a big deal at this stage. Thesis said she loves me. So... it's okay if she finds out. And I don't really care about anyone else knowing."

Clara sighs. "It's not just about what you want, Adrien. There's also the filming of the big reveal after you get engaged. Production doesn't want that ruined." She turns back to Liam. "I'm sorry, but the decision is final. Please pack your things. It's time to go."

“This is bullshit.” Liam storms out of the room.

"This is what happens when you mess around," XY says, fixing them all with a firm look before he and Clara leave.

Adrien feels awkward and uncomfortable as the other men stare at him. He didn't intend to cause trouble for anyone.

He was so happy just a few minutes ago and he wants to go back to focusing on that, rather than this situation that's beyond his control.

Ladybug loves him!

Just remembering the sound of her voice as she spoke the words he's dreamed of hearing for so long pushes the guilt aside.

"Sounds like Thesis made her choice," Kieran says and Adrien startles than curses inwardly. He wasn't thinking about Kieran when he spoke, but that was unkind. He wouldn't have wanted to find out she loved someone else in such a way.

"I don't know," he answers honestly. "I told her I love her and she said she loves me too, but, um, I don't know what that means for the two of you."

Kieran's mouth pulls to one side. "You're a good guy," he says. "But I think we both know it means she's picking you. I'm not surprised. I didn't think she was falling for me."

Adrien can't read him to tell whether he's okay or just holding it together really well. If the situations were reversed, he’d be heartbroken. "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me," Kieran says with something resembling a smile. 

“Are - are you sure?” Adrien asks. “I know you liked her a lot too.”

Kieran nods. “I did, but...I think we’re better off as friends.” His smile turns genuine. “Honestly, Thesis is wonderful and I have nothing but good wishes for the two of you, but I think we want different things out of life. And... she’s not the one I’ve been falling for. She’s not the One.”

“I hope you and Cupcake will be happy together.” 

"Me too. Congrats, man." He pats Adrien's shoulder and walks away.

The next morning finds Marinette fretting before her date with Keeper. She just... she's in love with Chat. She doesn't want to be with anyone else.

The idea of hurting him is awful though.

"You okay?"

Marinette looks up at Coralie’s approach. "Not really."

Coralie sits next to her and nudges Marinette’s shoulder with her own. "You wanna talk about it? I heard you and Bombay said I love yous. I thought you'd be happy."

"How'd you— Brienne?"

"Yeah, she told me. So what's going on?"

"Are you sure you want to talk about this with me? I thought you didn't want to hear about my love life."

Coralie shrugs. "I'm okay, especially if you're choosing Bombay, which it sounds like you are? Besides, we're friends, aren't we?"

"We are," Marinette agrees firmly. "And yeah. I mean, yes, I'm choosing Bombay. But that means I need to break up with Keeper and...I feel bad."

"Break ups suck."

"They really do," she mutters before a thought occurs to her and she brightens. "But hey, at least this paves the way for the two of you, right?"

Coralie bites her lip, looking uncertain. "I won't pretend that I didn't think about that, or even that it doesn't make me happy, but..." she trails off, exhaling loudly. "I love him, but I don't want him to pick me just because he can't have you. I want him to choose me because he's in love with me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

“Hey Keeper.” 

Marinette’s sitting on the couch, feeling as awkward as she did the very first day. For the first time she’s grateful for the glowing screen that separates them. She’s never been one for difficult conversations and this is hard enough without having to look into his eyes.

“Hello Thesis,” he drawls. “I think you had something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Um, yeah,” she says uncomfortably. She doesn’t want to have this conversation, but there’s really no getting around it. “I’m so, so happy that we met, and I really hope that we can still be friends in the future...”

Keeper sighs. “But you’re in love with Bombay.”

“Yes,” she whispers. “I am.”

“I’m happy for you,” he says, and though he sounds disappointed, there’s a note of truth in his voice. “Bombay’s a really great guy. A lucky guy. I hope you’re happy together.”

“Thank you. And I hope you’ll be happy too, whatever happens.”

“Happiness is a choice, right? I will be.”

"Hey Chaton," Thesis greets warmly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, goddess." It's a gross understatement. He always wants to spend time with her, but the hours they've been apart since they confessed have gone by exceptionally slowly.

"Heard there was some drama over there. Lupin got booted for exposing some famous guy? Pellicule is pretty upset."

"Ah, yeah," Adrien says, picking at the fabric of the couch. He knows he said he was fine with her knowing, but he really would rather she find out from him. "What, um, how much do you know?"

"Literally just that. They threatened to kick her off if she said anything more."

"Oh." He feels a rush of relief. It's silly. He wants her to know who he is under the mask (or behind the alias as the case may be), has wanted that for a long time, but he wants it to happen on their terms, rather than because someone else told her. "You're not curious at all?"

"Hey, careful now! I don't want you saying anything that gets you kicked off next," she warns, sending warmth through his body.

"I won't."

"I'm not really impressed by celebrity anyway. I've met lots of famous people and they were just people," Thesis says, and Adrien is reminded of just how many famous people they met while fighting Hawkmoth. Of course Ladybug won't care about his fame or fortune or any of it—she's interested in who he is as a person. The thought has him smiling broadly. She's exactly what he's been looking for.

"I feel bad for the guy, though," Thesis continues, oblivious. "He comes on here to find someone to love him for who he is without the fame or whatever, and they almost messed that up for him."

Adrien smiles, touched. "You have such a kind heart, goddess."

"Okay, this has been bothering me so I have to ask," Marinette says. "Does it worry you that I've never been in a serious relationship before?"

"No," he assures immediately. "I mean, it would be pretty hypocritical of me when I haven't either."

"Really?" she blurts in her surprise. How did that not come up before?

"Well, part of it has been an issue of time, part of it's been that my father didn't approve of me dating—" (Marinette frowns at that. She does not like Chat's father and can't wait to give him a piece of her mind.) "—and part of it's been a case of the person I was interested in not being interested in me...and my heart is pretty stubborn."

The reminder of his long-standing feelings, his constancy, has Marinette flushing with happiness. She only wishes she'd realized how perfect they are for each other sooner. "Well, you have me now," she tells him, smirking to herself at the double meaning that only the two of them will understand.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me. I love you so much."

"You make me happy."

“You just put the biggest smile on my face,” he tells her. “I can’t even tell you.”

She wants to make him smile forever.

“Someone’s happy this morning. What are you giggling about?” Adrien asks, glancing over at the dividing screen from his position sprawled out on the couch in a way his father would hate. He wishes desperately that he could see her face, the way her eyes would be lit up and her lips would stretch. The time in the pods is getting more and more difficult the longer this goes on.

He just wants to be with her already.

“Nothing,” she chirps. 

“Okay, fine don’t tell me.”

“Aw, don’t be pouty, Chaton,” she teases and a little thrill goes through him at the reminder that she knows. She knows and she loves him. “I’m just starting to get sick of these pods, you know? And well, it’s not like there’s anything to do in here, besides talk. I’ve just found a way to make better use of our time together.”

His lips purse as he tries to puzzle that one out. He’s pretty sure that she’s not saying she doesn’t like their time together. Actually, it sounds more like she wants him to ask... “So, how are you maximizing your time in here?”

“I’m knitting.”

“That’s adorable,” he declares. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Be on time?” she suggests.

He chuckles. “I’m sure you always have a good reason.”

“I’m a disaster. It’s a good thing I’m cute.”

“Good thing,” he echoes, biting back the words to tell her she’s more than cute, she’s beautiful, gorgeous, radiant. He’s not supposed to know what she looks like.

And really, he doesn’t yet.

He’s still never seen her without her mask.

He can’t wait to stare into those beautiful bluebell eyes without anything keeping them apart.

“Chaton?”

“Yes, goddess?” 

“Aren’t you going to ask me what I’m knitting?”

Anticipation thrums under his skin. She wants him to ask. This playfulness is just for him and he loves it.

“What are you knitting?”

“Someone told me he needed fifty presents,” she teases. “So I’m getting started.”

Adrien’s face feels warm and his pulse thunders in his ears. He had told her that on their first date. She told him she’d made presents for her crush’s next fifty birthdays and he’d said...

He’d said he’d propose if anyone did that for him.

Adrien exhales shakily.

She wants him to ask.

Adrien dresses carefully in one of his favourite suits. He styles his hair until it looks as perfect as any stylist could get it. He even shines his shoes.

It’s silly. It’s not like she’s going to be able to see him.

But, this is an important moment.

He needs to look his best.

Adrien takes a deep breath and pushes open the door to the pod. 

“Thesis?” he calls when he walks in.

“Hi Bombay! I’m so happy you’re here.”

Even with all his nerves, he can’t help the dopey little smile that spreads across his face at that. “Me too,” he says, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants and taking a deep breath. 

“Can you go over to the little table there?” she calls before he can begin, and he pauses, momentarily thrown, before following her instructions. “There should, um, there should be a little package on it.”

He picks up the package, something light and shapeless, wrapped in green paper. “What’s this?”

“Bring it over and come stand in front of the screen.”

He follows her instructions. “I’m here.”

“Open it.”

“I - um, okay,” he stammers, completely thrown. 

He’d come in here with a plan. He should’ve known planning is his Lady’s department. 

He tears open the wrappings with excited, shaking fingers to reveal a charcoal black beanie hat.

“Did you make this?” he breathes.

“Yeah. It’s simple and I - I know you won’t be able to wear it until Fall, I mean it’s not really knit-hat weather right now but...” she trails off and then takes a deep breath. “This is the first gift.”

His ears perk up at that. “First?”

“Mhmm. I think - I mean, I want this to be the first of the very many presents I’ll be making for you for the rest of our lives.”

Tears spring to Adrien’s eyes. This is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for him. “I love it. I love you!”

“Chaton, you can’t see me, so I want you to know I’m getting down on one knee right now.”

He inhales sharply.

“I never imagined this before,” she tells him. “I didn’t really believe I would fall in love when I came here... but I have. I’ve fallen so deeply, so irrevocably in love with you. With your sense of humour and your kind spirit and with your vulnerability. I feel like, here in these pods where we couldn’t even look at each other, I came to see you clearly, and now I see all of you. And, Chaton, I love all of you.”

Adrien’s openly weeping now. He wipes at his eyes. Is this really happening? He’s had dreams like this. Can this really be real?

“I love you,” he chokes. “I love you so much.”

“I want to keep loving you. Forever. For the rest of our lives. I want—” she laughs wetly “—I want to see your face and - and - and make you breakfast in the mornings - or maybe not breakfast because I’m not great about getting up in the mornings, but brunch, maybe? The point is I want to be there for you to make your life better and kiss you at the end of the day and the beginning of the day and all day long really. So...Bombay, Chaton, whatever your real name is... Will you marry me?”

“Yes, please,” he somehow manages to get out through the lump in his throat and the flood of tears. He’s smiling so widely that his cheeks hurt, and he can’t help laughing. “You - you beat me to it,” he says. “I came in here all ready to propose to you. I - I have the ring and everything.”

“Save it for when you see me in person and you know my name.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Me neither,” she says. “Soon.”

“Soon,” Adrien echoes.

Soon. 

It can’t be soon enough.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” 

Marinette is bouncing on her stool, so excited she nearly loses her balance and falls off, before catching herself with a little laugh. 

She smiles brightly. 

“He said yes and now we’re engaged!” 

She giggles. 

“I kind of guessed that he was planning to propose but...” She breathes in and out. “I’ve never really been the one to put myself on the line like that before. He’s always been the one being vulnerable and taking that first step. It was my turn. And besides...” Her grin turns mischievous. “Who says the woman can’t ask? If he’s going to marry me, he needs to be able to follow my lead.”

Marinette rejoices in the knowledge of just how well he does that.

She inhales happily, shoulders lifting around her ears with the force of it.

“Something tells me he can manage that.”

“I can’t believe it.” 

Adrien shakes his head, still feeling dazed. 

“The most amazing woman I’ve ever met in my life just asked me to marry her. I - I really didn’t know I could be that lucky.” He rubs at his eyes again. He can’t seem to stop. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that she never, ever regrets it.”

He laughs, giddy. 

“I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy.”

Adrien stands before the large circular door that will lead him to Thesis, to Ladybug, to his fiancée. The door that will lead him to the reveal he's been dreaming of for years, to the face and name he's longed to know more than anything.

It takes all his self-possession to keep from shifting from foot to foot, from wringing his hands, from running his hands through his hair and ruining his careful style. But he wants to look his best for her.

This is only the most important second impression of his life. (Or is it his third? His mind is racing too fast for him to think about that now.)

He’s an excited, anxious mess.

He's fine.

He’s about to meet the love of his life face to face with no masks for the very first time.

Fine doesn’t even begin to describe it.

He smooths down invisible wrinkles in his grey vest one more time. Everything needs to look absolutely perfect. She’s in fashion. She’ll notice.

He exhales slowly.

The Love Is Blind doors slide open and he steps through, pulse racing. 

This is it!

The most beautiful woman he's ever seen steps through identical doors on the other side of the room and he's striding towards her before he's fully registered her slinky red dress, the gentle curl of her hair, or her beaming face.

And then he takes in her lovely, familiar face and stumbles. His mouth falls open and he gapes like an idiot.

She nearly trips. "A-Adrien??"

"Marinette?" he gasps, surging forward to steady her.

They stand there, clasping each other's arms, staring into each other's faces in undisguised shock.

Thesis is Ladybug is—

"Marinette," he says again.

"Oh my gosh," she squeaks.

He laughs and pulls her into a tight hug. It's her, it's her, it's her.

It's Marinette. Of course she's Marinette. Of course Ladybug is the most clever, kind, brilliant, amazing woman he knows. Of course.

He lifts her up, still hugging her tight, and spins her around, giddy with happiness as she squeals in surprise.

They’ve been friends for years. How did he never realize?

Gently, Adrien sets her back on her feet, but he doesn’t let go, and she makes no move to pull away.

Holding her feels so perfect, so right, like they were made to fit in each other’s arms.

Marinette is his Lady, his goddess.

He’s the luckiest person in the world.

Marinette buries her face in Adrien's neck and desperately hopes she's not getting her makeup all over his collar.

It's Adrien.

She fell for him. Again.

Marinette doesn't believe in soulmates, doesn't believe in the idea of one person out there for everyone. At least in theory, in a world of billions of people, surely there are thousands of people she could fall in love with.

So how is it she keeps falling for the same singular boy?

How is it she’s only ever fallen for that one boy?

Tendrils of electricity race up Marinette’s spine from where Adrien’s hand rests on the bare skin above the low dip of her dress. His hand feels so good—so warm and solid and real and him.

Is his heart racing the way hers is? 

Now that he knows, is he as in love with her as she is with him?

She loosens her grip around his waist and he pulls back so they can look at each other.

He’s so handsome with his gorgeous blond hair falling gently across his forehead, his beautiful peridot eyes shining, his slim-fitted vest accentuating his athletic body, and his rolled up sleeves showing off his toned forearms.

It’s not fair. How can she be expected to think straight when he’s so ungodly attractive?

"It's you," he says with a light laugh. "I should've known."

"It's you," she says. "I - I - I didn't have a clue!" She laughs with an edge of hysteria. "Oh my gosh, you're the one everyone was making such a big deal about! I should have put it together when they kept asking me about you but..." She shakes her head. "I never imagined this."

The idea that Chat Noir could be Adrien wasn’t something she’d ever considered before, although after ten days of sharing and conversation, she can see it. Those were Adrien’s confidences, Adrien’s sweetness, Adrien’s vulnerability.

She probably should’ve put it together sooner.

Marinette searches Adrien’s face anxiously. His eyes are bright and his smile is warm, but she’s afraid to read too much into that.

After all, Adrien's always looked at her that way, with bright eyes and warm smiles, and he’s never had any kind of romantic feelings for Marinette. 

Would he let on if he was disappointed? Would he tell her if he had mixed feelings about the woman he thought he loved turning out to be just a friend? 

She doesn't think so. 

“Marinette,” he says, taking her hands in his and getting down on one knee. “Will you still marry me?”

She nods, too overwhelmed to speak, and out of seemingly nowhere he produces a brilliant diamond ring that he slides onto her finger.

That’s a good sign, right? Even if he’s never seen her that way before, they made such a strong connection in the pods. Clearly he loves her enough that he’s still willing to marry her. 

Or he still wants to try at least.

He gets to his feet and they stand there, gazing into each other’s eyes, fingers entwined, for several long seconds.

What is he thinking? She can’t make out his expression.

Marinette wishes he would kiss her, and she tilts her face up to him in silent invitation.

Slowly, Adrien bends his head towards hers and his warm breath floats over her lips, sweet and minty, making them tingle.

Her heart beats rapidly in her chest and anticipation vibrates under her skin. She’s never wanted to be kissed so badly in her entire life.

He closes the last remaining centimeters between them and brushes his lips against hers in the softest, lightest of kisses. Her whole body feels pleasantly warm.

This is happening. The kiss Marinette has been waiting half her life for. Finally.

It’s over before she’s had the chance to truly appreciate it. Before she’s had the chance to kiss him back the way she wants to.

Chat Noir used to beg Ladybug for kisses. Surely he won’t mind now if she pulls him in and kisses him the way she wants to? 

Only...what if this is all he wants from her now that he knows she’s Marinette? 

No, he still wants to marry her, surely a real kiss isn’t too much to ask?

But when her eyes meet his, his face has dimmed a touch.

Oh no, he’s disappointed! 

He didn’t like kissing her. Or maybe he never wanted to in the first place. Or maybe he thought he wanted to kiss her because Ladybug but kissing Marinette was just too weird for him.

But they’re the same person! 

Up until now, he didn’t know that, though. 

It’s fine. They just...need time to adjust to this revelation, right?

Right. Exactly. They just need time.

They’re going to be okay.

(She hopes.)

There’s no mistaking the anxiety on Marinette’s face as Adrien pulls back from the kiss.

He’s so stupid. He didn’t even ask first. She probably is still processing their reveal, and that was too much too fast, and here he is just wanting to kiss her again and again.

He knows what it’s like to be with a partner who wanted to be physical before he was ready. He’s ashamed that he could’ve put Marinette in that position.

“Sorry,” he murmurs. Idiot.

She bites her lip. “It’s - it’s okay.”

And he believes that. Or, at least, he believes it will be.

Of course it will be. Marinette is so kind and forgiving. 

He’s loved her for years hopelessly, but by some miracle, here in the pods she finally came to love him back. And she loved him still, even after learning Bombay and Chat Noir are the same person. He’s sure it’s only a matter of time before she reconciles Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste.

He just needs to give her time to get comfortable with him and with physical displays of affection.

And, sure, he knows that physically he isn’t exactly her type, but...well, that was the whole point of the experiment, right? To develop feelings that were based on more than physical attraction?

He’s lucky that on his end there’s nothing to overcome. He always knew Marinette was beautiful, but seeing her now, having fallen so deeply in love with the whole of her, he thinks she’s the most exquisite human being on the planet.

He just needs to trust the process, trust that her love for him is strong enough to overcome the physical piece.

He can be patient.

Adrien squashes the desire to crush Marinette to him, kiss her deeply, touch her and be touched by her. 

Instead, he lifts her hand to his lips and presses a lingering kiss to the back of it, his eyes on hers the whole time, determinedly preventing himself from straying to her sweet, kissable lips.

“I love you,” he tells her as seriously and sincerely as he can.

Something in her eyes softens, and the anxiety in his chest relaxes a fraction. “I love you too.”

She still loves him.

He just needs to be patient.

He’s already made more progress than he ever dreamed he would in just ten days.

She’ll adjust to him being Adrien, and they’ll be okay. He’s sure of it.

It’s only a matter of time.

Marinette shifts uncomfortably as the camera records.

“I feel so stupid,” she admits. “I already admitted this, so I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, but I've had the biggest crush on Adrien since collège and then I go and fall for him again without even knowing it was him.” She whirls to fix a glare on Julie as a thought occurs to her. “You knew!”

“Yup,” Julie admits easily from behind the camera. “The viewers are going to love this.”

Marinette groans. Everyone’s going to be laughing at her. Why did she agree to come on this show? (She can’t regret it, though. Whatever else happens, they still love each other, they’re still engaged. That means something. She just wishes it hadn’t happened at the expense of her dignity.)

“You’re supposed to talk about his physical attractiveness now that you’ve seen him in person,” Julie tells her. “Feel free to gush.”

“I mean, he’s literally a model,” Marinette mutters. “Of course he’s stupidly pretty.”

She is not going to gush, though. Just because she thinks he’s the single-most gorgeous person on the face of the planet doesn’t mean she needs to announce that to the world! They’re going to have enough entertainment at her expense as it is.

Chat’s probably going to laugh at her once he watches. 

Marinette can feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she realizes what that means. Her face must be so red. This is definitely going to show up on camera, isn’t it? She buries her face in her hands. “Oh my gosh, I told him so many stories about him! This is so embarrassing.” 

“Marinette,” Julie prods.

She takes a breath and uncovers her face. “I just really wasn’t expecting this,” she explains. “I always had feelings for him, but he never saw me that way, so I’m just feeling kind of overwhelmed right now.”

“Does it change how you feel about him?”

“What?” she blurts, then shakes her head rapidly. “Of course it doesn’t change how I feel. It’s still him. It’s just...going to be an adjustment.”

More for him than for her, of course, but obviously that goes without saying.

“I can’t believe I needed to come all this way just to fall in love with one of my best friends,” Adrien says, laughing. “Can you believe it? She was under my nose this whole time!”

“How do you feel now that you can see her?”

“Of course I’m happy to get to see her.”

Claude sighs like Adrien is especially dense. “Are you physically attracted to her?”

“Oh,” he blurts. Oh! “Marinette is beautiful. I’ve always thought so. Of course I’m attracted to her.”

“You told us at the beginning that you and Marinette never dated. Was there ever anything romantic between the two of you before?”

Adrien takes a breath for composure as subtly as he can before answering. That explains the questions about his past relationships. The producers knew. Of course they did.

“Um, no,” he answers uncomfortably, remembering all of the times he pushed down his attraction to her, all of the times he asked her if she liked him and she denied it. And even if she did eventually fall in love with Chat, it doesn't erase the years of rejections. But that's in the past. They love each other now. That’s what matters. “I guess sometimes when you see someone all of the time it takes a change in circumstances for you to reconsider what was there.”

“Are you worried learning that you’re friends will affect your feelings for each other?” Claude asks.

Adrien’s smile doesn’t slip, but only because of his years of practice. “I’m not worried that it will affect our feelings for each other. We love each other. I mean, all of the couples are going to need to adjust to being together in person now. Why should it be any different for us? We just need to...trust the process.”

He pushes away thoughts of Marinette’s uncomfortable reaction to his kiss.

She’ll come around.

“We love each other,” he insists.

They’ll work the rest out.

He has to believe that.

“We love each other,” he repeats firmly.

At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing, right?

Right?