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Chapter Text

The February wind battered at Adrien as he made his way up the stairs, sending a trickle of sleet down the back of his neck making him shiver.

“Hey, Dude,” Nino said, holding out his fist for a bump without his normal enthusiasm. 

“Hey,” he replied, bumping fists.  “Do you think the girls will mind if we just go inside?  Its too cold and wet out here to hang around and I can’t afford to get sick.”

“Sure thing, Dude.”  Nino, who had a longer walk to school and was noticeably shivering, blew on his gloves in a vain attempt to warm his fingers.

The wintry weather was damping more than just the streets.  It was damping spirits as well.  That is, except for the half dozen girls who waved at him and giggled as they made their way to the locker room.

“Ugh,” he groaned.  “”Valentine’s Day is coming up and all the fangirls are going to come out of woodwork again.”

“Price of being Mr ‘Hottest Teen of the Year,’” Nino muttered.  “You don’t see me having that kind of trouble.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got Alya and no one messes with her.  I mean, your girlfriend is great and all, man, but she can be scary.”

“Don’t I know it,” his friend sighed with a goofy grin on his face. The blast of heat when they stepped into the locker room was sudden and uncomfortable after the chill of the courtyard.

As Adrien opened his locker, a pink envelope fell out.  He sighed.  He should probably open it, but it was kind of uncomfortable to read the fan letter valentines that most girls sent him.  Just once, he wished that someone wanted to be with him, Adrien the goof who liked puns, video games, and was kind of socially awkward, not Adrien Agreste model and recently named Hottest Teen of the Year by some teen magazine or other.

Wanting to get it over with, he ripped it open and pulled out a small pink card.  The words caught his attention at once.

Dearest You,

Every time that I see you it is the sweetest part of my day.  Days without you are dark and bitter.  I know you would be the first one to say you aren’t perfect, but my day becomes perfect just by being near you.  You are the moon and stars that brighten my darkest nights.  How I wish I could light your dark hours the way you have done for me, but my light is probably too dim and far away to warm you.  But maybe, on some distant shore of thought, my love shall wash up at your feet and make you smile.  That is my dearest wish.    

- The one who loves you

Adrien stood there, staring at the tiny handwriting on the small pink card, his cheeks burning.  He knew he had many secret admirers.  He got sacks full of mail from them every month, but this was different.  The girl who wrote this went to his school.  She wrote as if she knew him.  She hinted that she knew his life wasn’t as warm and easy as most assumed it was.  She didn’t even sign her name.

“Whats that?  Early Valentine card,” Nino asked.

Adrien jerked, probably the image of a scalded cat, and crammed the card into his pocket before slamming his locker shut.  “Uh, yeah!  No big deal!”

Nino leaned against the bank of lockers with arms crossed, staring at him with ironic eyes.  “No big deal, eh?”

“Hehe, yeah.”  Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  “Got to get to class, now.  Right?”

He took three steps towards the doors, when he heard Nino laugh.

“Dude!  If its no big deal, then why are you to trying to go to class without your books?”

He was sure his whole face was red as he retreated to his locker to get his books, the love letter burning a hole in his pocket.

He spent all day trying to figure out who could have sent him the love letter.  Half of the girls in his class were an obvious no, being otherwise in relationships, uninterested, or Rose having that pen pal thing going with Prince Ali. That left him with Alix, Chloe, Lila, and Marinette.

“Alix is more interested in sports and skating than guys, unless its Kim, and she has never shown any particular interest in me,” Adrien thought, tapping his pencil on his desk in agitation.  “Chole couldn’t be bothered to come up with writing her own homework, let alone romantic prose, and Sabrina isn’t creative enough to do it for her.  And Lila…”  The thought made him shudder.

A long fingered hand slammed down on the desk under his nose, bringing him abruptly to attention as a wave of titters swept around the room.  

“Mr Agreste!  Glad to see you’re back with us,” Ms Mendeleive snapped at him.  “Since you’ve had such a nice break, why don’t you demonstrate the formula on the board.”

He flushed in embarrassment, hurrying to comply with the cranky teacher rather than let his lapse in concentration get back to his father.  He caught Marinette’s eye as he returned to his seat and she gave him a shy smile and an apologetic shrug.  He couldn’t help but smile back.

Marinette.  He would much rather have the love letter come from her than Lila, but she was one of his best friends.  If she had really been interested in him she would have said something, right?  They had been friends for two years now and he had thought for a while that she had a crush on him, especially after that reality show broadcast her pictures of him all over her room.  But she had said they were just fashion references, that she was a fan.

He sighed, trying not to think of the girl sitting behind him.  “Even if she was smart, pretty, talented, kind, thoughtful… oh, boy!”

If he was being honest with himself, he kind of liked the idea of Marinette having a crush on him.    When she had confessed that she was in love with him, well Cat Noir him, he had felt horribly guilty because he knew he couldn’t return her feelings, but her words had filled him with nervous, excited energy regardless. 

“Besides, she’s my friend and she loves someone else now,” he thought, a sad ache settling in his stomach.  “She practiced that confession with me and everything and that was a while ago.  Surely she’s confessed to him by now.”

No.  It couldn’t be Marinette.  It must be another girl in a different class.

ooOOoo

The second pink card showed up the next day after lunch.  

Dearest You,

I dreamed of you last night.  We were walking through the park at sunset, hand in hand, when you looked at me and smiled.  It felt like the whole world faded away and and my heart was flying with you.  Maybe someday we will do this for real, but for now, it is my favorite dream.  I wish I could ask you about yours.

- The one who loves you

“Still no name or clue as to who sent it,” Adrien thought.  He hated loose ends and these two letters were not enough to go on to find the writer.

“Dude, another one,” Nino asked, eyeing the pink card. “Some girl’s got it bad for you, bro, to send you two valentines two weeks before hand.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t sign them,” he sighed.  “And they’re not the normal fangirl gushing either.  These are …”

“Yes?”  His best friend wriggled his eyebrows at him behind his glasses.

Adrien blushed.  How could some silly cards get to him like this?  “Sweet,” he muttered quickly.  “They’re sweet.  Thats all.”  It wasn’t like he was giving up on Ladybug or anything, right?  He was just curious.  That was it!  Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

“I just want to know who sent them, Nino.  Thats all.”

He rolled his eyes.  “Whatever, dude.”  Clearly, he wasn’t buying that excuse and Adrien couldn’t blame him.

He had a photoshoot the next day and missed school, leaving him to scramble through the makeup work the teachers had assigned in the short breaks between shoots.  He couldn’t help but wonder if his secret admirer had left him a letter only for him to not find it.  Those two pink cards hovered at the edges of his thoughts all evening, leading Plagg to tease him by grabbing them and flapping around his room with them like oversized wings.  It had taken threatening to dump all the camembert out the window before the little menace would give them back.

But even that distraction couldn’t keep his mind from wondering who could have sent the cards to him.  

The next morning, the third card was lying at the bottom of his locker.

Dearest You,

I missed you yesterday.  Your seat was empty and I felt the lack of your warmth in the room.  I wondered what your photo shoot was like.  Did you have fun?  Did someone make you laugh?  Did they have your favorite food at lunch?  When you got home did you go straight to piano practice or did you sit and watch a movie?  I wish I knew you better so I could take you to your favorite places, tell you the funniest jokes, anything just to keep the smile on your face forever.  

But I am just a handmaiden in the background.  What right have I to wish to see my prince happy or for me to bring him joy?  Still, it is the deepest wish of my heart.  

-  The one who loves you

The sight of the card had buoyed him up, feather light, but here he was, back to thinking about Marinette.  “Could it be her after all,” he wondered or, really, hoped.  “After all, I call her ‘Princess’.  Could I be her prince?  Her… Buttercup?!”  

She had said that ‘Buttercup’ was a code name for the boy she loved, that she had misjudged him when they had first met, but that she got to know him better and she saw that he was kind, sincere, and generous.

“Well, the misjudged part fits, if you take the chewing gum incident into account and she probably knows me as well as Nino.  But could she have switched from loving Cat Noir to loving Adrien, not knowing we are the same?  Wouldn’t I have noticed if she had started acting different around me?”

He spent the day hyper aware of every pencil squeak and rustle of fabric from the girl behind him and every sigh tickled his neck and made him blush.

“Dude, what’s wrong,” Nino asked as they grabbed lunch in the cafeteria, thankful that  Marinette and Alya had gone to the bakery for the break.   “You’ve been twitching all morning!”

“No, I just can’t figure out who keeps leaving these letters for me.  Its starting to drive me crazy!”

“Why, are they all stalkery again?  Do we need to tell the old Owl?”  Nino was concerned and, after the last time some crazed fangirl had tried to get to him, he couldn’t blame him.   “Not to mention made it really hard to sneak away to fight akumas!”

“No, nothing like that.  Kind of the opposite, really.”

“Adrien, you’re my bro and you can share or not, but if I don’t know what you’re talking about then I’m not sure what I can do, dude.”

He sighed.  “You’re probably right.  Here.”  He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out the three envelopes.  “Just keep it down, okay?”

“Sure, dude, sure.”  His friend took the cards out and read all three, eyes growing gradually growing wider and softer.  Then, he handed them back and gave him a serious look.  “Those are  beautiful and… sad.”

“I know.”  He hid them back in his bag once more and winced when he heard Plagg snickering from under the flap, hoping Nino couldn’t hear him.  “I just don’t know what to do about it.  Any ideas?”

“Any suspects?”

“Well, she mentions my photoshoot and that my seat was empty, so she’s in our class.  Most of the girls have shown no particular interest in me, or are already dating someone, so that leaves four.”

“Alright, which four?”

“Chloe…”

Nino snorted.  “Queen Bee doesn’t have a sensitive bone in her body.  Plus, she is too lazy to come up with that herself and would have done it in the open.  Next?”

“Sabrina?”

They both chuckled over that.  Sabrina would have been nice enough if she had better friends in her life, but she was so dedicated to Chloe that she couldn’t see how poorly she was being treated or how she treated others as a result.

“No dice.  Who else?”

“Lila?”  He knew that he and Marinette were the only ones in the class to see past Lila’s mask of lies, but the very thought of her trying to cozy up to him again made him feel sick and clammy.

His friend considered this.  “I kind of doubt that, bro.  I mean, clearly she has a thing for you, but a girl with those kind of connections playing secret admirer?  Doesn’t make sense.”  Adrien sighed in relief.

“That only leaves… Marinette.”

He had expected some kind of reaction from Nino. Laughter, surprise, or a quick denial, perhaps. After all, they were both friends with Marinette and knew her probably a well as Alya did.  He had even tried to help Nino tell her he had a crush on her a while back, but that had been a disaster.  Was he still upset about that?  He seemed perfectly happy with Alya, but did it hurt him to think of the girl he used to like liking Adrien now?

Instead, his friend just stared at him levelly. “What do you think about that?”

Adrien blinked, then blushed and rubbed his neck.  “Ummm, well, it would be… okay, I guess.  If it really is her.”

“Then why don’t you ask her?”

He started to feel the tide of anxiety rise in his chest.  “But what if I’m wrong?  Sometimes I get the feeling I make her nervous as it is.  And she is just such a cool person and a great friend!  What if I mess things up somehow and she hates me again?”

Nino put his hand on his shoulder comfortingly.  “Chill, my dude.  Marinette isn’t like that.  She still manages to be nice to Chloe most of the time and they have been at it for years.  The girl couldn’t hate you if she wanted to.  Besides, she and Luka broke up and they’re still good friends, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied, running a hand through his hair distractedly.  Marinette had even forgiven Cat Noir when he had rejected her and said she wanted to be friends.  She had a heart big enough to hold everyone, even those that hurt her.  She was so strong and bold, but shy and sweet, creative and funny and clumsy and pretty.  She was a glorious mess of contradictions wrapped in pink and grey and…

Oh, cheese and crackers!  Plagg had been right!  He had been chasing Marinette!

He felt the blush wash up his neck to burn his ears and cheeks and he covered his mouth with a hand.

“It finally clicked, didn’t it, dude.”  It wasn’t a question and when Adrien met his friend’s eyes they were kind and his smile was wry and crooked.

“Nino,” he whispered, not trusting his voice.  “I’m in love with Marinette.”

Chapter Text

Dearest You,

I know yesterday was a long day.  You work so hard at so many things and you succeed at them all, but I hate seeing you so tired.  I can’t help but wonder if I could help somehow.  How many people smile at you during these long days?  How many hugs do you get?  Do you have someone to talk to you about everything and nothing?  How often do you laugh and what makes you smile?  Do I ever cross your mind as some sweet or solemn thought?  Does it brighten your day more than thoughts of others?  Or am I just a smile in the background of your days?  Someday, I hope I’ll know you well enough to put answers to my curious thoughts.            -  The one who loves you

Cat Noir stared down at the most recent love letter with a tender smile.  Pressing it to his heart, he lay back against the slope of the roof.

“Oh, Marinette,” he thought, his heart swelling within him.  “If only you knew how much you have always meant to me.”  So many memories swirled through his mind: dancing in the moonlight, her making him that hat for Christmas, giving him her lucky charm, her fighting for him to go to New York, her soft, nervous smile when she won the design competition, her running all over Paris with him to help him see his mother’s movie, her being willing to go with him on his first date with Kagami…wait…

The thought felt more like a kick to the chest.  “If she is in love with me, how could she have been willing to see me date another girl?”  He groaned, anxiety settling like stones in his stomach once again.  “Why did it take me so long to figure this out?  No wonder she thinks I don’t see her!”

“Whats wrong, Cat Noir?  Drink some sour milk?”  

He jerked upright, shoving the pink card back into the zipper pocket of his suit.  Ladybug had managed to sneak up behind him and he hadn’t even heard her.  Boy, he was really out of it!  “Um, yeah.  Something like that.”

“Ready for patrol, then, or do you need to head home,” she asked, a hint of concern in her bluebell eyes.

“I… already did our patrols.”

She blinked in surprise.  “You did?  But you hate going on patrol alone.  Whats up?”

He shrugged and shook his head, making his cat ears flap.  “Just thinking and needed to clear my head.”  He couldn’t help the pink that crept into his cheeks and he knew she saw it.

“Well, since you have already put in the work for us today, I’m here if you need to talk about it,” she offered kindly.

He sighed.  “I suppose it might help to get a girl’s opinion,” he replied tentatively, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh, sounds… interesting.”  She sat down on the roof next to him, wrapping her arms around her knees.  “What about?”

“First, could I ask you something?

“Sure.”

“How did you know you were in love with your special boy?”

“Cat.”  Her voice was resigned.

“I’m not digging, I promise!  I’m still respecting your boundaries.  I just want to know what its like for someone else.”

She sighed, staring out at the city that was both their home and their battlefield.  “Well… he makes me feel like everything is great when he smiles and that I will do anything I possibly can to change the world for him when he doesn’t.  He is my biggest distraction and it is so easy for me to get lost in his eyes.  I think I could easily just sit and do nothing with him all day if he wanted to, just so I could be beside him.”  She glanced over at him and he saw a sad smile tug at her lips.

“Yeah,” he said roughly.  “I thought so.”

The chill winter breeze whipped between them, the only sound for several minutes.  

“How does she make you feel, Cat?”

He looked at her surprised.  “How-how did you know?”

The sad smile became a crooked grin.  “The groan, the blush, the pink card sticking out of your pocket, Ladybug intuition.”  She shrugged.  “Take your pick.”

He hunched his shoulders and hung his head.  “She’s… a lot like you… but… different too.  She’s bold and audacious and she’s always standing up for others and for what is right, but she is kind of shy and quiet too.  She’s really smart and talented and pretty.  And her smile makes my whole day brighter.”  

Cat looked down at the corner of the pink card sticking out of his pocket, a feeling of guilt washing over him.

“It just feels strange, I guess,” he murmured.  “Its hard to let someone else into your heart, right?  Like you fight it for a long time and then, suddenly, it jumps out at you?”

“What,” Ladybug drawled.  “Like an akuma?”

He shrugged.

Her face contorted, twisting from serious to lopsided grin to full blown laughter.

“Hey,” he said, offended, shifting away from her.  “I’m dealing with conflicted emotions here and you’re laughing at me!”

“S-sorry, C-cat,” she gasped between giggles.  “Its j-just that you are comparing this girl of yours to an akuma!”

“That was you.  She is NOT like an akuma,” he grunted, crossing his arms and glaring at her.  “She’s the sweetest, most thoughtful, amazing girl I know.  She doesn’t need a suit to be a hero and she seems to really care about me, unlike some people.”

She stopped laughing and a guilty flush discolored her face.  She looked down at her fingers in her lap, twisting them in a habitual nervous action.  “It may not be the way you want, but I do care about you, Cat.  More than you can ever know.”

Her voice was soft and sad, striking his heart with guilt of his own.  He sighed and shifted next to her once more.  “I know, Little Bug.  I didn’t mean to bite your head off.  I’m trying to move on, I really am, and M- uh, this girl is amazing.  I’m just afraid that, if I try to court her, she’ll push me away too and I don’t want to lose her friendship.”

She put a gentle arm around his shoulders and gave him a little squeeze.

“‘I hold it true, whate’er befall, I feel it when I sorrow most; Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’”

Cat looked at her with raised eyebrows and a crooked grin.  “Tennyson, really?”

“It seemed to fit.”  She took his shoulders and turned him toward her.  “I’ll always be here for you, Cat, but if this girl makes you feel this way… you should go for it.  You deserve so much happiness.  If she is yours, then try.  Don’t base every girl off of me.  I’m… a special kind of weird.  She is so lucky to have you like her, Cat.  Never sell yourself short and I’m so sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren’t good enough.”  She hugged him fiercely, hot tears splashing against his neck.

He wrapped her in a tight hug and just barely heard her whisper, “I never deserved you and I hope you have found someone who will make you truly happy.  At least one of us should get a happy ending.”

“My Lady.”  He felt tears in his own eyes, but he chuckled.  “Do I need to find your special boy and knock him into next week?  Maybe he’ll ask you to be his valentine if I do.”

She released him in a hurry, shoving him off her with a mock scowl.  “Oh, sure, and Cat Noir beating up innocent civilians would be the next headline.”

“Dark Cupid Strikes Back, The Continuing Tail,” he quipped, spinning his own tail for emphasis.

She rolled her eyes and followed it up with a half angry glare.  “Lets not go there, please!”

“Why not?”  He leaned in, giving her a knowing look.  “Jealous now that I have a girl who wants to kiss me?”  He regretted them as soon as those words left his mouth.  He flushed bright red and covered his mouth with a gloved hand.

She chuckled.  “Whats the matter?  Got your own tongue?”

“LB, I know this is probably the wrong thing to ask, but…. was I… I mean… did I…”  Anxiety was choking off his voice.  How could he even ask her that, given everything else that had gone on today?

She propped one hand on her hip, a sympathetic smile on her face.  “You were going to ask if I thought you were a good kisser, weren’t you?”

He nodded at her, wide-eyed.  Was it just Ladybug or did all girls have this weird mind reading thing?  “Well, hopefully not Lila and Chloe!”  He only hoped Marinette couldn’t do it either or she might change her mind about liking him.

Ladybug looked thoughtful for a moment.  “I’m not the best person to ask, considering you were trying to kill me at the time and I was trying to save you, not romance you.”  

He groaned in defeat.  “I didn’t know it was possible for blushing to hurt so much!”

She patted him on the arm.  “No, silly kitty!  I just meant that you were fighting the kiss for most of it.  Once you started kissing me back I knew the spell was broken and stopped.  But, for what it was, it was very nice.  Does that help?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck which he was sure had turned crimson along with his cheeks and ears.

She got to her feet and ruffled his hair.  “Well, what are you waiting for?  An invitation?  Go get her, Tiger.”

He couldn’t help but grin.  “Thanks, LB.  You’re the best.”  He stood and readied his baton.  “The offer still stands to knock some sense into that boy for you, My Lady.”

“Like you could ever figure out who he is, Cat Noir,” she called, whipping off into the sky.

ooOOoo

Waiting through the weekend was torturous!  Plagg, that bottomless pit, teased him constantly, chasing him around his room chanting “She’s just a friend!  She just a friend!”  over and over and it took a whole wheel of camembert to finally shut him up.  Time crawled through his weekend lessons, his thoughts constantly returning to Marinette: her beautiful smile, her delicate fingers that always seemed busy, the way the sunlight shimmered off her hair in sapphire hues, and her expressive eyes.  He daydreamed his way through another photoshoot, with only Vincent noticing anything odd, but he merely gave him a knowing look and set about taking pictures, humming happily.  It was all Adrien could do to wait until Monday to see her again.

“Its strange,” he thought as he walked up the school steps, looking for any sign of her.  “I always knew I liked Marinette and I always felt better after spending time with her.  I just never noticed it  was different than how I felt about hanging out with Nino or Alya, but it was.  Looking back on it, I always felt something different for her.  All this time!  I wish I had known this sooner!”

Nothing was going to stop him from talking to Marinette today.  She was his lucky charm after all.  Even his father’s usual curt dismissal after dinner the night before hadn’t phased him.  His world was now wrapped in a rosy glow and the letter he found in his locker thrilled him to his finger tips.

Dearest You,

Everyday, I wake up to you as if you were the sunrise.  Like Icarus of old, I don my wings to try to reach you once more, but the work of my hands fails me yet again.  As I approach you, everything begins to melt, my wings, my words, my heart, and I crash to the ground yet again with the feelings I have longed to share unspoken on my lips.  So I start again, to build my wings and my confidence anew to try to reach my sunshine once more.  For I would burn and crash and rise again a thousand times just to feel the warmth of your smile and the light of your eyes.  Oh, how I wish you shone for me.   

- The one who loves you

“This is like that crazy confession she practiced with Cat that day,” he thought, his heart singing,  “but she put so much more of herself into it this time!” 

 This confirmed it!  It had to be Marinette!  Alya, her best friend, jokingly called him ‘sunshine’.  She was always stumbling, tripping, and falling - her crashing and rising.  She had told Cat about not being able to talk to ‘Buttercup’ and here she was writing to him since her words always failed her. His chest ached at the thought of her slaving over every line of each precious letter!  “I’m Buttercup!”

“Dude, you look happy,” Nino exclaimed from around the locker door.  “What happened?  Your old man finally decide to grow a sense of humor?”

“No, I’m going to talk to Marinette today!”

Nino’s mouth fell open. “Okay, bro.  What kind of talk?  The kind that ends in a valentine date or the kind that ends with ice cream and chick flicks?”

“What’s wrong with ice cream?”

His friend shook his head.  “Nothing, bro, its just a girl thing.  When a girl gets dumped, or gets rejected, the girl squad gets together to eat ice cream, watch chick flicks, and commiserate.”

“Oh,” Adrien said quickly.  “Um, the kind of talk that ends with a date.  Hopefully.”

“Come on.  You’re Adrien Agreste, probably half the girls in the school have a crush on you. Asking her out will be a breeze.”

“Its not that simple, Nino.”  Yup!  He could feel the anxiety growing in his chest again.  “Remember when I asked Kagami to the ice rink?  I had to ask Marinette for help and advice.  I even asked her to go with me so I wouldn’t feel so awkward.  That whole relationship was a failure on my part and, now, I want to ask Marinette out!  How am I supposed to do that?”

His voice had been getting louder and even cracked on the last word.

“Oh, thats simple!”  Kim sauntered over and leaned against the lockers.  “You just go up to the girl and tell her she’s awesome and you’d make a great duo.”

“That may have been a viable solution for you and Ondine, Kim,” Max said, coming over as well.  “But Marinette is both competitive and sensitive.  Such a direct approach may have the reverse affect on the desired outcome.” He pushed his glasses up farther on his nose.  “I suggest writing her a valentine letter expressing your deepest respect and admiration.”

“Or what about a flash mob?”  Kim punched the air excitedly.  “I’ve always wanted to be part of one of those.”  Everyone rolled their eyes.

“You could write her a song,” Ivan said, smiling sweetly.  “Kitty Section could help.”

“Or a poem,” Nathaniel murmured, blushing red.  Adrien shot him a grateful smile, knowing how the artist felt about Marinette.

“We could always see if we could get Ladybug to lock you in a closet with Marinette or something,” Nino suggested.  Everyone stared at him, shocked looks on every face.  “What?!  It worked for me and Alya.”

“Did someone mention my name?”  Nino’s locker door slammed shut and there was the Ladyblogger herself.  “And what did I hear about Ladybug locking someone in a closet with Marinette?”

“Agreste here wants to ask her out, but doesn’t know how to do it,” Kim stated, looking smug.  “I still think a flash mob would be cool.”

Adrien flushed as he met Alya’s eyes, almost afraid of her response.  She could get very protective of her best friend, after all.  But, instead of being angry or stern, Alya looked like Christmas had come round again.  She clasped her hands and bounced up and down, eyes shining.  “Are you kidding me?!”

He shook his head and gave a shrug.  “Yeah.  I’m just kind of clueless about this kind of thing.”

The whole group burst out laughing and Adrien had the distinct feeling that he was missing a well known joke.

“What?”

She controlled her laughter and shook her head.  “Worry about that later.  We’ve got this, Sunshine.  Meet me here before lunch and I’ll fill you in.  Me and the girls have got this!”

Then she turned on the rest of the boys with a stare that could could cataclysm steel.  “And if one of you so much as breathes a word of this to Marinette, I will personally make sure you regret it!”

Everyone but Kim nodded with wide eyes.  The jock just snorted and rolled his eyes.  Max looked up at his friend and sighed.  “Appropriate measures will be taken to ensure secrecy.”

Ivan nodded.  “Even if I have to sit on him.”

With a brisk nod, Alya dragged Nino out of the room grinning like a maniac, leaving Adrien to wonder what had just happened.

Which was how Adrien found himself waiting in the park after school, his bag holding six pink envelopes and his stomach full of butterflies.  Alya had told him she and the girls would get Marinette to the park after school and that he should be there ready with anything he wanted to give or say to her.

He had spent the whole day nervous and every tap of Marinette’s pencil, every rustle of paper, was enough to pull his heart towards her once more. He was sure he would get a bad grade for the day, but he had spent his spare moments between classes writing out some of his own thoughts.  He wasn’t as creative as Marinette was, nor as poetic, but they were from the heart and he hoped, he hoped, he hoped she would accept them and him.

“Settle down kid.  You’ll do fine,” Plagg murmured from inside his coat collar.  The little kwami rubbed his face against Adrien’s neck.  “Pigtails is worth it, isn’t she?”

“Of course she is , Plagg, but that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous.”

“What is there to be nervous about?  Anyone as sappy as you must be your soulmate!”

Ignoring his little friend, he paced nervously around the fountain, the same fountain where he and Marinette had hidden from his crazed fans after that embarrassing perfume ad.  But then it had been empty for repairs and now it was covered in a slick of ice with a curtain of icicles hanging around the rim.

One time around. Would she come?  Would she hear him out?  What if he was wrong and it wasn’t Marinette?  

Two times around.  Would she still want him even if she didn’t write the notes?  What could someone as sweet and kind and dependable see in someone like him anyway?  He was always having to run off to some stupid photoshoot or extra lesson and when he wasn’t doing that he was either stuck in his room or out saving Paris as Cat Noir.

Three times around.  Had Marinette’s declaration of love to Cat Noir just been a celebrity crush?  Is this one too?  

Four times around.  No.  Those letters held no trace of the self-centeredness of the typical fangirl stalker, insisting they were superficially perfect for each other if he would only see it.  Instead, they spoke of how she wanted to make him smile, hoping his day had gone well, noticing when he was tired and longing to help.

Five times around.  Was this a good idea?  If Alya’s reaction was anything to go by he thought he had a good chance, but still felt a nervous churning in his stomach and his chest ached with anticipation or dread.  But what if he messed things up like he did with Kagami?

Six times around.  No, Kagami and him had been too similar.  They had been scrabbling for the love and acceptance they couldn’t find in their lives but they never really opened up to each other much.  Marinette had fought for him.  She was so funny and sweet and…

…there she was!  Standing by the carousel that looked like a giant frosted cake in its coat of ice, Marinette was sketching in her ever present pad.  Her hair was down, brushing the shoulders of her pale pink wool coat and set off with a chocolate brown scarf and a red knitted hat. She had taken off her gloves to draw and they dangled out of her pocket.

“She… she looks like a winter princess, all pink and warm and cozy.  Oh, what am I going to say to her?”  His mouth was incredibly dry and he gripped the strap of his messenger bag even tighter.

“Psst!”  He turned abruptly and saw Alya, phone out and probably recording, waving him on.  “Go,” she hissed.  “You’ve got this!”

Adrien swallowed hard, squared his shoulders, and walked over to Marinette. She didn’t hear him come up behind her, too focused on her sketch.  On impulse, he reached out and covered her eyes with his gloved hands. 

She stiffened and gave a nervous laugh.  “Wh-who is it?”

What words did he have that could compare to the outpouring of the heart she had trusted him with?  The words he had written in his own card seemed now too small, too paltry, to offer her.  He couldn’t flirt like he did as Cat Noir ‘cause she would recognize that immediately.  Marinette wasn’t Ladybug and she didn’t deserve casual flirting in a moment like this.  He had to be honest with himself and with her!

Blushing furiously, he leaned close to her ear.  “Yours is the smile I look for everyday and I miss it when it isn’t there, Marinette,” he whispered.  “And you were right.  I don’t get many hugs.  Hardly anyone just talks to me about silly little things.  You were the first person to make me laugh since Mother disappeared and being around you always makes me smile.  That is why I tried that silly prank at the wax museum that time.  Nino had said something that made me think you didn’t like me and I couldn’t bear the thought of not having you in my life.  I wanted to make you feel good about being around me, but I blew it.”

Her shoulders were trembling against his.  “A-adrien?”

“You were never in the background, Marinette,” he continued.  “You stand in a place all your own, full of smiles and sunshine.  I see you and you are so special to me.”  He sighed.  “I’m sorry it took so long for me to realize it.”  He leaned his forehead against the back of her head, breathing in the sweet scents of vanilla and hibiscus shampoo.  “And even if you fall, I will always be there to catch you.”

He released her then and took a step back, giving her space to react to his words.  Her pencil and pad fell from her nervous fingers.  Slowly she turned around and the instant he caught her wide eyes, as blue as an autumn sky and as bright as stars, he knew he was lost.  He was the one falling, falling hard into the horizon of her eyes and he didn’t know if he would ever land.

“D-do you mean it,” she squeaked, her cheeks rosy from more than the cold.

He took her hands in his and felt her icy fingers through his gloves.  He cupped them in his and brought them to his mouth, playing his breath over them to warm her, smiling as the pink in her cheeks darkened.  “Every word.  Did you?”

She stared at him, eyes nervous and smile shy, before nodding.   

“I wanted you to be the one who wrote the letters, Marinette, even before I was sure.  I… I wanted you to be the ‘one who loved me’.”

“A-adrien,” she said softly.  “Would you… would you like to have some hot chocolate with me?”

“I would love to.”  He grinned, his heart as light as air as he offered her his hand. “I believe there was something in one of your letters about walking through the park holding hands?”

She bit her bottom lip and nodded, eyes shining.  She wove her delicate fingers through his and he brought her hand to his lips to press a small kiss to the back.  Her smile was as wide as his.

He bent to collect her pencil and sketchpad and gestured for her to lead the way.  They turned together, heading for the bakery when, a few steps along, she slipped on a patch of ice and started to slide.  Reacting instantly, he pulled her around towards him. Her hands reached for his coat lapels to steady herself just as he wrapped his arms tight around her waist.

“S-s-sorry,” she stammered, eyes locked on his.

He chuckled softly.  “Didn’t I say I would always catch you?”  He brushed a strand of hair behind one ear as an excuse to touch her face.  “My beautiful Icarus?”

Her rosy lips parted in a gasp that spoke more eloquently than even her letters had of the state of her heart. 

“M-may I kiss you, Marinette?”

She nodded.

His lips met hers and a wave of static sparks ran along his nerves.  She was as warm and sweet as he could have dreamed and she lit him up from the inside out.  He could have stood there kissing her forever…

…until the cold began to sting his burning cheeks.  Pulling back reluctantly, he glanced up to see a light snow was falling.  His heart was so full that he had to laugh!  She joined him and her giggles echoed like bells off the ice.  They only stopped when out of breath and they could only smile foolishly at each other with identical rosy cheeks.

“So,” Marinette said, biting the corner of her lip in a way that made him want to kiss her again.  “Hot chocolate?”

He took her hand in his once more.  “And Marinette?”

“Yeah?”

“This is now my favorite dream.”

ooOOoo

It was Valentine’s Day and Cat Noir and Ladybug had just finished their patrol.  A light snow was falling and he was excited about his plans for making cookies with Marinette that evening, leaving him giddy and frisking like an oversized kitten.

“Remind me to not let you have caffeine before patrols again,” Ladybug laughed as he pounced, cat-like, around the rooftop chasing snow flurries.

“This isn’t caffeine, LB!  This is what requited love looks like,” he crowed, falling to his back and rolling in the freshly fallen snow for her amusement.

“For catboys, maybe,” she said, clutching her sides from laughter.  “I take it everything went well with that girl, then?”

His grin was wide and probably slightly smug.  “My girl, you mean, and yeah.  Everything is great!” He folded his hands behind his head and sighed in contentment.  “She’s amazing, Ladybug!  I don’t think I’ve been this happy since… well, since I met you.”

“And she doesn’t ask questions when you have to zip off after an akuma?”

“Nope.  I have a valid excuse, of course, but she trusts me and just asks that I call her as soon as I can when the attack is over so she knows I’m okay.”

“Cat!  You didn’t!”

“Of course not!”  He waved a hand at her with his eyes closed to cancel that thought.  “I know I can’t tell her I’m Cat Noir, but she’s just like that!  I told you!  She’s amazing!”

“And she makes you this happy?”

“I’m more than happy.  She’s… she’s… hot chocolate kisses!  That’s what she is!”  He sighed again, thinking of his first date with Marinette.  There had indeed been hot chocolate kisses and laughter and hugs, as if she had known exactly what he’d wanted and needed most in the world.  And when she’d read his letter, happy tears had fallen from her beautiful eyes, even though all it said was “I see you.  Will you go out with me?”

“Hot chocolate kisses?”  She giggled again. “ That sounds… sweet!”  

Her tone was playful and he glanced up at her with a smirk.  “You have no idea!  What about you, LB?  There is still an hour before my date.  Plenty of time for me to knock some sense into your light of love.”

 “You aren’t the only one to get hot chocolate kisses,” she said, her grin so wide it filled her face.  The glow in her eyes and the faint blush on her cheeks was something to behold and only a small part of his heart ached that it wasn’t him who had made her light up like that.  For the most part, he was content and truly happy to know that Marinette loved him so much.

“Well, I’m happy for you, My Lady.  How do you explain ducking away for akuma attacks?”

She shrugged.  “Same as you, I guess.”

“Then I guess we’re both pretty lucky, for a change,” he said, standing up and brushing the melting snow from his hair and suit.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Ladybug replied.  “I think my boyfriend is a better kisser than you!”

Her playful tone should have warned him.  As he whipped around to taunt her with what Marinette had said about his kisses, a large snowball hit him right in the open mouth!

Spitting out a mouthful of snow, he gaped at his partner who laughed so hard she actually fell off the roof.  Whipping out her yoyo to catch herself, Ladybug kept laughing at him as he shook the snow from his hair.  “Awwwe!  Poor kitty doesn’t like the snow so much now, does he?”

“Watch it,” he growled playfully, a wide grin on his face as he gathered up his own snowball.  “My girlfriend might take offense at that.  I bet you she could give you a run for your money, Little Bug.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and blew a raspberry.  “She’d have to catch me first, Cat Noir!”

He threw the snowball at her, smacking her on one of the spots on her stomach.  “Oh, come on.  You’re a walking target!”

“Swinging target,” she called.  “Say ‘hi’ to your girlfriend for me!”

“Yeah, right!”

He would need to leave for Marinette’s soon too, but he stood for a long moment watching his partner swing off into the dusk.  He was glad that it looked like things hadn’t changed for them.  That let the last bit of his tension ease away.  Besides, he hadn’t seen her so happy in a very long time.  Things hadn’t worked out as he’d dreamed, but he was glad Ladybug had her happy ending too.  She deserved it if anyone did.

“And I get mine too,” he thought dreamily as Marinette’s sweet smile hovered in his mind.  

Slipping the staff from behind his back, he leaped off into the gathering gloom, following the new light in his heart towards the one who loved him.