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Showing up to school like nothing had changed felt wrong. As his car pulled up, Adrien noticed his classmates lingering outside, chatting and joking like always. Like Hawk Moth hadn’t just stolen fifteen Miraculous. Like an impossible responsibility didn’t rest on the shoulders of two teenagers. Like they had no reason to doubt their safety.
Like nobody was worried this was the beginning of the end.
Adrien on the other hand…to say he was on edge was like saying Plagg liked cheese—a ridiculous understatement. He’d been by Ladybug’s side for hours that night, listening to all her worries and apologies, consoling her as best he could and just wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in tight when there was nothing he could say.
He still had faith in her to get them out of this. Of course he did.
But things weren’t as simple as they’d once been. Their partnership wasn’t as simple as it once had been. Even calling it a partnership…it was like trying on an old pair of shoes you hadn’t worn in some time. The ones that used to be your favourite. The insides were perfectly moulded to your feet, and you had fond memories of when you used to wear them. But it wasn’t the same, now that you had other shoes. Something still felt off.
Adrien knew that he and Ladybug weren’t fated to be an old pair of shoes. Their bond didn’t have to remain forgotten and unfamiliar; it could be crafted into something new. Better. Stronger.
But they weren’t there yet, and Adrien didn’t know how to get there.
She’d offered him pretty apologies, sure. And he believed them to be sincere. But they hadn’t really made a dent in everything he was feeling. It was like slapping a bandaid over a black hole. He hadn’t heard from her once since they’d parted ways Friday night, and every minute of silence weighed on him. The seconds ticked by, trapping his hopes in the inescapable gravity of the darkest parts of his mind.
Adrien was afraid the doubts might win again.
As he stepped out of the car and began making his way into the school, the whispers of the other students snuck around him, winding around his thoughts tighter and tighter until he was ensnared in all of their doubts too.
What are Ladybug and Chat Noir going to do now?
Adrien had no idea either. He barely knew how to keep putting one foot in front of the other at this point. He didn’t think he could slap a fake smile on his face for anyone but Ladybug right now, and even for her, it was only because he had no choice. He couldn’t let her give up. Couldn’t lose her. So he smiled, let the black hole keep growing, and soldiered on.
Honestly, Ladybug kind of messed up this time.
That stung, coming from a girl who Adrien had always seen sporting Ladybug pigtails…until today. Apparently it only was one mistake to erase the loyalty of some of their most devoted fans. But…was Ladybug’s loyalty to Chat really any stronger?
And now Ladybug only has Chat Noir to rely on again? Didn’t he like…leave her, a while ago? What’s to stop him from doing that again?
Adrien slammed his locker closed.
These people didn’t get it. They didn’t get it at all.
But in some ways…what hurt the most was that he wasn’t entirely sure they were wrong.
“Hey, mec! What are you doing here?” Adrien flinched as Nino clapped a hand on his shoulder, not having expected the abrupt contact, but Nino didn’t seem to notice. “I thought you’d be halfway around the world by now.”
“Heh. Yeah…” Adrien sighed. “That uh…didn’t work out.”
He wasn’t sure why the trip had been cancelled. Aside from his initial relief at the news—he absolutely could not leave Paris, now more than ever—he hadn’t really thought about it much. There were more important things to consider.
“That’s too bad,” Nino said.
Adrien bit the inside of his lip, not meeting Nino’s eyes. He didn’t have the energy to explain that he’d never wanted to go in the first place. “Yeah, too bad.”
Nino threw an arm around his shoulders. “It’s nice to see you anyways, hey? After all the craziness this weekend…”
Nino dropped his arm, instead grabbing his own wrist, where he would have worn the Miraculous he might never see again. It wasn’t his fault, obviously. It was nobody but Felix or Hawk Moth’s fault. But knowing Nino, he must have felt guilty about the whole thing.
The week after Rocketear, Nino had spent nearly three hours on the phone one night, fretting about how to apologize for the things he’d said about Chat Noir. Pointing out that he hadn’t said those things to Chat Noir (as far Adrien could tell him, at least) hadn’t dissuaded him, so Adrien had helped craft an apology for meant for himself, which was a little strange, but oddly touching. The point was, Nino was the kind of person who cared. He must have been hit hard by Hawk Moth’s victory as well.
“I get it,” Adrien said. Apparently it wasn’t just for Ladybug that he could force a smile. “It’s nice to see you too.”
They walked to class in silence, thoughts of the fate of Paris hanging heavily between them. Most people were already seated when they arrived, though Adrien was disappointed to note the empty bench behind his and Nino’s. He could have used one of Marinette’s sweet smiles. If anybody could cheer him up right about now, it would probably be her.
Adrien found himself watching the door as the seconds ticked by. There wasn’t much else to do; compared to the rest of the school, the mood in the classroom was strangely somber. It made Adrien wonder…He knew of at least a few people in the class who had wielded a Miraculous, but might there be more? He didn’t get a chance to ponder that for long, because Marinette soon appeared in the doorway.
Her eyes were glued to the floor, her hair free from its usual pigtails, but sticking up in places, like she hadn’t thought to drag a brush through it. Her tiny frame drowned in an oversized, pale pink crewneck, which probably would have looked adorable on her under other circumstances. She was ushered in by Alya, who kept a tight arm around her shoulders. But Adrien had eyes only for Marinette, unable to ignore the way his heart clenched at the sight of her. He’d never seen her look so…small.
As she slid into her seat, Adrien turned to face her. “Hey, Marinette.”
She glanced up with wide, bloodshot eyes, balling the sleeves of her sweater into her fists.
“Adrien?” She bit her lip. “It’s you, right? Not…” Her eyes fell to her lap, and she didn’t elaborate, but Adrien’s stomach dropped. He could fill in the blank.
Not Felix. God, as if his cousin hadn’t done enough by screwing over Ladybug, now he’d apparently hurt Marinette somehow too? Adrien had been trying to get ahold of his cousin all weekend, but Felix refused to pick up. Adrien was beyond pissed about the whole thing, and now his blood was boiling anew. He forced his anger down, not wanting to startle Marinette.
“It’s me, I promise.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the lucky charm she’d given him, laying it out on her desk for her to see. “I’d never let anyone else have this, it’s too special.”
At that, Marinette did smile. It was a sad smile, the kind Adrien was all too familiar with lately, but a smile nonetheless. Adrien wanted to say more, but he was cut off by the bell. Nino tapped his shoulder a moment later, signalling that Miss Bustier had walked in, and Adrien grabbed his lucky charm and reluctantly turned back to the front.
He tuned out most of the good morning routine, only paying attention when he had to, like for attendance, and to say something nice about his assigned partner for the day. But instead of starting the lesson after that, Miss Bustier had something else planned.
“Before we begin our lessons today, I want to take a chance to check in with all of you about what happened this weekend.” She paused, surveying the room. “A lot of you have met some of our heroes, and all of you have been affected to some degree by Hawk Moth’s actions. So I’d like us all to go around the room and share a little about how we’re feeling.”
A chill seeped through Adrien. He didn’t want to sit here and listen to his classmates fears. He already knew that Paris was scared. He didn’t want to be forced to remain objective if they decided to criticize Chat Noir. He knew he wouldn’t stay silent if they had anything bad to say about Ladybug.
His heartbeat reverberated from his head to his toes, and he had to dig his nails into his jeans to keep his hands from shaking. But he couldn’t leave, so he focused on taking deep breaths. On the rhythmic tapping of Nino’s pen against the desk. Of the smell of Alya’s tea wafting by.
It was easy to tune out the first two speakers—Chloé never had anything nice to say about the heroes, and neither did Sabrina when Chloé was within earshot. But next it was Mylène’s sincere voice ringing through the room, and Adrien couldn’t ignore it.
“I guess it’s just scary because…well, you don’t think your heroes can fail, you know? I mean, I don’t blame them. But somehow Hawk Moth got almost all the Miraculous, and it’s just that…if Ladybug can’t even keep us safe, then…who can?”
A hush fell over the class again, quiet enough that Adrien was surprised nobody could hear his stomach sloshing around like crazy. The silence was broken by a single sob, and Adrien almost wondered if it had come from him until a blur ran by him and out of the room. Stunned, Adrien turned around to see Marinette’s empty seat.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Alya stand. “Miss Bustier, can I go see if she’s okay?”
Miss Bustier nodded, but before Alya could reach the door, Adrien stood as well.
“Wait!” he said. Alya stopped and turned back, her brows furrowed. Adrien scrambled for a way to explain, even though he wasn’t even entirely sure why he was being pulled in Marinette’s direction. Sure, he’d wanted out of this class from the second he’d stepped into it today, but that wasn’t at all related to what pushed him to say what he did next. “Please, Alya. I think that my cousin…well, he was in town this weekend, and I think he…I just want to apologize. Not for him, I’m sure he doesn’t deserve it, but…please, let me go after her?”
Alya hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Fine. But go easy on her, Sunshine. She’s…having a rough time right now.”
“Of course.”
Adrien waited for Miss Bustier to give her nod of approval, then all but ran from the room, exchanging a loaded look with Alya as he went.
He found Marinette sitting on the floor in the corner of the locker room, her knees pulled up to her chest as she shook with sobs. Without hesitating, Adrien sank down next to her.
“Marinette? Are you okay?” She shook her head and cried harder, so Adrien tried another tactic. He put a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn’t pull away he took that as encouragement. “Can I give you a hug?”
Instead of responding, she leaned towards him, her head coming to rest on his chest. He put his arms around her and pulled her in tight, relaxing when she hugged him back. At least, whatever Felix had done, she didn’t seem to hold it against Adrien.
Would Ladybug be the same, if she knew he was behind Chat’s mask?
Adrien shoved those thoughts down, focusing on Marinette. He rubbed soothing circles into her back and whispered reassurances in her ear. His words felt hollow, telling her everything would be okay when he had no idea what had happened, but he was determined to make them true.
When her cries faded to the occasional hiccup, she stiffened. Adrien reluctantly relaxed his grip, missing her warmth as she pulled away. Still, this wasn’t about him, so he glanced at his shoes as she wiped her tears, trying to give her some space to collect herself. He pulled his knees up to mirror her position, rubbing his jeans as he waited.
Eventually, she cleared her throat. “Th-thanks.”
“Of course,” Adrien said, glancing back at her. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, but she hadn’t moved too far away from him. Their shoulders pressed together, and he could see the freckles dotting her nose. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Her fingers dug into her knees. “N-no. It’s f-fine.”
He bumped his knee gently against hers. “Are you sure? I can be a pretty good listener, you know. They call me Ear-drien Agreste.”
Marinette snorted. “That was awful.”
“But you laughed,” he said, and taking a small risk he poked her side softly.
She giggled, and Adrien’s stomach fluttered as she turned to look at him. There were still tear tracks lining her face, but her eyes sparkled in the light filtering through the window, and there was just something special about sharing this moment in time with her.
Unfortunately, the moment didn’t last. Her smile faded, and she let out a long sigh. Her eyes focused on something across the room as she spoke.
“You know, the weirdest thing is, if this was last week, I wouldn’t be able to believe I was lucky enough to be sitting here with you. And now…now I’m not even thinking twice about it, because everything else in my life is just...such a mess.” Adrien wasn’t sure what to say about that, so he waited her her to continue. “It’s nice of you to offer, Adrien, but I don’t think there’s really anything I can say to you about what’s…bothering me.”
“Is this because Felix is my cousin? Because I swear, I don’t care what you say about him. He’s pretty much my least favourite person on the planet right now.”
“F-Felix? What do you mean? How did you know it was Felix?”
“I, uh…” Adrien scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I don’t know, I just…You asked me if I was me earlier, so I figured he might have done something, and…” He bowed his head. “I’m sorry. Whatever he did, I just…I’m sorry.”
Marinette sniffled and wiped her eyes with the ends of her sleeves. “It’s not your fault, Adrien. You’re not your cousin, I know that.”
“I know, but I…I’m the one who agreed to switch places with him, which means part of whatever he did is still my fault. And it’s not just you he hurt. He also hurt another one of my best friends, and I just feel like…I can’t do as much to help my other friend as I want to, at least not right now. But maybe…maybe at least I can help you?”
Marinette was silent for a long time, frowning as she studied him. Then she shook her head. “You can’t help, Adrien. I appreciate it, but…there’s nothing anyone can do. Not really. I…made a mistake too. A lot of mistakes, really, and Felix was part of it, but…” She shook her head, then buried her face in her knees, mumbling her next words so Adrien had to strain to hear. “It’s my fault too. I lost everything.”
With those last three words, everything clicked for Adrien. It shouldn’t have. Because Marinette couldn’t be Ladybug. Not after the whole Multimouse thing.
But so many things suddenly made sense if she was.
How Ladybug had chosen Alya and Nino as the first temporary heroes. How she’d kept Rena on the team even after claiming to have retired her. How she’d tried to give Adrien a Miraculous twice. How he always felt a little better when Marinette was by his side.
There was still a chance he was wrong. He was probably wrong. But he couldn’t ignore the possibility.
“I thought I already told you,” he whispered, “you haven’t lost me.”
It was vague enough not to give his identity away if he was wrong, but if…if…
Adrien swallowed as her head snapped up to scrutinize him anew, frowning the same way she always did when she was trying to solve a puzzle. Because God, Adrien knew that face so well. He knew the way she smirked in their moments of triumph and how her eyes widened in her moments of vulnerability.
Or maybe he didn’t, and it was just wishful thinking again.
“You never told me that,” Marinette said slowly. Her eyes seemed uncertain.
Adrien took a deep breath. He needed something else to say, but what? Something obvious if she was Ladybug, but vague enough if she wasn’t…
“I think I did.” Adrien hesitated. “It’s you and me against the world, right?” Right, M’lady?
Her eyes widened, and he saw the moment it clicked. He knew what she must have been feeling, because he’d just felt all of it, and the surge of emotions in his chest made him want to pull her back into another hug and never let go.
But maybe he didn’t know what she was feeling, because a second later she scrambled away from him. She didn’t get far, crashing into the lockers before she could put more than a Kwami’s worth of space between them, but the reaction tore into Adrien all the same.
“No,” she said. “No, no, no. You can’t be…I can’t…We can’t know. Especially now. We can’t!” She buried her face in her knees again.
Adrien gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest. Of course, there was no point in trying to escape the pull of a black hole. But he told himself that her disappointment wasn’t about him, but rather the situation. At least, he hoped so.
“I’m sorry, Bug. I know you didn’t want us to know, but I…I think this could be good for us. We can communicate better now. We can talk whenever we want, about whatever we want. No more secrets.”
Marinette looked like she was about to cry again. She’d curled in on herself, and outside of their suits Adrien was almost too afraid to try and cross the divide between them. But as her breathing sped up he reached out and placed a hand on her knee. She tensed, but as she looked back up to meet his eyes her shoulders fell.
“Just breathe, Marinette.”
She took a couple deep breaths, and Adrien was so focused on her that he barely remembered to take in oxygen for himself. Then her fingers twitched forward and took his hand, and his lungs definitely stopped functioning for a moment.
It was her. It was really, really her.
Ladybug. Marinette. Of course it was her.
He got so lost in his excitement that he forgot about the situation at hand until Marinette spoke.
“It’s not that simple,” she whispered.
“What’s not that simple?”
“Sharing our identities. There’s a reason we’re not supposed to know.”
Adrien couldn’t ignore the flash of annoyance her words caused. The sting of digging into an old wound. “If this is because of Fu’s rules, then I don’t see why—”
“No.” Her tone was a bit harsher, and her eyes narrowed, but at least she hadn’t let go of his hand. Even if she was squeezing a little too hard for it to be comfortable.
“What do you mean, no?”
She glanced around suddenly, then inched closer, whispering in his ear as she continued. He tried not to shiver at the feeling of her warm breath in his ear. He wasn’t supposed to be enjoying this, but with her shoulder pressed against his, and their gloveless hands clasped, it was a little difficult to focus on her words.
“We shouldn’t be talking about this here, but…” She sighed, then leaned her head on his shoulder and gripped his hand tighter as she continued. “I’m scared, Chaton.”
He was pretty sure he did shiver at the sound of his nickname. She started pulling away, but Adrien threw his free arm around her shoulders, hoping against all hope that she wouldn’t retreat further. She relaxed against his side again, and before Adrien could find the words to reassure him she began to speak again.
“You were akumatized once. In another timeline…Bunnyx showed up to help me undo it, and I don’t know all the details, but it—” She trembled, and Adrien pulled her in even closer. Everything felt wrong about this story, but he need to hear it “—you knew my identity, and it…it was bad. Like, end of the world bad. I had to go free the Akuma, because in that timeline I was already…” She trailed off, burrowing tighter into his side, but it was easy to fill in the blanks.
“Okay…” Adrien’s throat felt tight, unable to imagine a world where he’d hurt the girl in his arms. It was unthinkable. There was no way. “But th-that was only one timeline, right?
“I don’t think so,” Marinette said. “I…do you remember after Moolak? I had planned on discovering your identity that day, and it ended up…something must have gone wrong.”
Adrien’s heart had split into hundreds of tiny copies, pounding in his ears, in the roots of his hair, in all of his fingers and toes. But all of those copies still beat for the girl in his arms. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t.
“So we’ll be careful, I promise. I just…” He stared at his feet. “Please don’t push me away again.”
“I don’t want to.” Her voice shook. “And honestly…I don’t think I can. Not anymore.” Adrien bit back his protest as she detangled herself from his embrace, but when her gaze locked with his the softness in her eyes didn’t even feel real. She glanced away quickly, staring down at their clasped hands as her cheeks flushed. “N-not now that you’re you,” she whispered.
Adrien couldn’t help the soft gasp that escaped him. “So you’re not disappointed?”
“No, Minou.” She smiled, still not quite meeting his eyes. “I’m really happy it’s you.”
“Oh,” Adrien said dumbly, unsure of what else to say. He wanted to take to the rooftops and sing out his joy. He wanted to take her in his arms and dance the day away. He wanted to—
“Adrien?”
Right. Not the time for that. “S-sorry. What did you say?”
“I s-said...I understand if, well…it makes sense if you don’t…heh. I mean, I’m just Adrien, and you’re…No! No that’s not right. I’m Marinette, haha! You’re Adrien. And you’re not just anything. You’re the kindest, sweetest boy I’ve ever met, and you’re stupidly smart, and you’re also…”
She glanced around the room again, leaving Adrien with the pointless task of trying to keep his heart firmly inside of his chest. Because oh, all the pieces had crashed together again, and in the midst of reannealing themselves together they were all beating relentlessly against his ribcage. Ladybug was Marinette, and she was amazing, and she was happy with him?
“You’re him too,” she continued, “which means you’re also goofy and ridiculous—” she said that in the most endearing tone, and Adrien was sure he was falling for her all over again “—and loyal and brave and—” she glared “—stupidly self-sacrificing, and…” She hid behind her free hand. “I just keep messing things up, and I can’t understand why you keep believing in me, and especially now. I mean, God, you wanted to tell me who you were before, and if I’d only listened I would have known it wasn’t you on that train. You were right, and I could have …” She sucked in a breath and shook her head. “Now that you know I’m just Marinette, I understand if—”
This was the point where Adrien could no longer sit quietly.
“But you’re not just Marinette!” he shouted. She startled and released his hand as Adrien jumped to his feet, pacing in front of her. “You’re Marinette. I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out earlier, because of course it’s you.”
“Adrien, shhh—”
“I know, I know! I won’t say anything I shouldn’t, but you have to know how amazing you are. You’re Marinette.” Adrien was aware he was starting to sound a bit like a broken record, but he couldn’t find the right words to get his point across. “Marinette, who always has time to help a friend in need. Marinette, who has a solution to everything. Marinette, who…” He stopped pacing, glancing down at her stunned expression. “You were the only one who listened to me about not wanting to go on that trip. Who understood. You’re just…amazing.”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He was ever the lovesick fool, now more than ever. But he couldn’t get lost in his thoughts about them riding off into the sunset together now. Later, in his dreams, maybe.
For now, he still had a job to do as her partner.
He stretched out his hand, the same as he’d done on the rooftop in front of the Eiffel Tower the other night. And just like then, she hesitated a moment before reaching her fingers up to his. But as soon as she did he pulled her up into another hug. Maybe he was squeezing a little too hard considering she wasn’t in her suit, but he couldn’t bring himself to loosen his grip, and a moment later she returned his embrace just as tightly.
“We’re going to figure this out, Bug. You’re going to figure this out. I know you will, now more than ever. We’ll get them all back, you’ll see.”
She didn’t answer, just buried her face in his chest and started crying again, and he was content to hold her for as long as she needed, smoothing his hands over her hair and telling her again and again that he believed in her.
He was overwhelmed by his love. The black hole in his chest collapsed in on itself as he held her, and the effect was staggering. He hadn’t known he could feel so much.
And he knew it wouldn’t be easy, but they were going to figure this out.
“You and me against the world, M’lady. We’ve got this.”