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It’s the unfortunate predicament of charity galas that everyone invited is supposed to act like they were remarkably selfless. Adrien knows this, because it’s the only sentence he can catch filtering in through the hotel window. Everything else is lost in the dull buzzing of the party, that’s boring to the point of nerve-snapping.
And even though Adrien doesn’t feel particularly selfless at the moment, there will never be a party he enjoys more, he finds with the dizziest smile.
“We shouldn’t have done this.”
It’s not a question, not even a statement. A breathless arbitrament that weighs Ladybug down, squaring her shoulders until she’s hunched up on the edge of the bed. Her fingers fiddle with the bed linen on her lap.
Adrien scoots closer, wondering if he could ever kiss every freckle all over her body. If he would ever have the time. And he doesn’t know — maybe never will — but he has to start somewhere.
He starts on her shoulder blade. “No, we shouldn't have.”
A soft gasp escapes her and her skin erupts in goosepimples under his kiss, pulling his grin wider. He trails his fingertips down the side of her back, to her waist and hips until he finally settles there. Just holding onto her while his mouth searches for its next target, and the next, and the next.
“I really shouldn’t have,” Ladybug insists, her voice coming out kind of breathy. “And you can’t— You can’t tell anyone.”
His thumb runs along her hip, tracing stars in its wake. “Don’t worry, I live by a strict kiss and don’t tell policy.”
“Oh. That’s— Good to know you have a policy for such situations,” she says, back suddenly straight like a pole. Her hand slips on top of his and she angles herself further, body tense and ready to pounce any second.
That's when it finally registers to Adrien what he just said.
“No, wait, I didn’t mean it like that!” he blurts in a panic. “I don’t do this often at all. In fact, I have never because I’m—” so in love with you, I couldn’t imagine being like this with anyone else, m’lady.
Yeah.
No.
“I just meant to say, you don’t have to worry about it. I won’t tell a soul,” he says instead, planting a kiss to the curve of her shoulder in assurance. “I know what it’s like to have rumours spread about you. Your reputation is safe with me.”
She chuckles at that, in that so very Ladybug way of hers when she tries to stay professional but she can’t help it — and Adrien loves, loves, loves that sound because it’s him making her break the carefully crafted and maintained guise of the Protector of Paris. She’s always genuine, of course, but at times like this it feels like the crack on her mask runs a little deeper and the girl under peeks out.
Or maybe he is even more selfish than he cares to admit, and it’s the façade of golden boy Adrien Agreste that is unravelling at the seams when she laughs.
“Adrien, it isn’t about my reputation,” she says softly. She nudges his fingers on her hip apart to slide hers in the gaps and squeeze his hand. “It never was. It’s about your safety, and about how if anyone finds out, Hawkmoth is going to come after you. He’s going to use you, and I can’t let it get that far because if it comes to you, I won’t be able to choose the greater good. I should, but I know I can’t.”
She is pulling his arm tighter around herself — as if in reassurance that he’s still there, safe and secure — until his palm lays flat on her stomach and her back’s pressed up against his bare chest.
He kisses into the crook of her neck.
He’s rewarded with a sigh. That most definitely qualifies as a success at stopping her nervous rambling.
“So basically,” Adrien murmurs, the tip of his nose trailing up her neck and behind her ear, “you’re selfish.”
He squeezes her tighter and she gasps — a half-laugh, half-indignant huff — but he’s too quick to trail open-mouthed kisses down her neck that make her flush to leave room for her complaints.
“You know you’re selfish, so keeping me at arm's length is your safety net,” he teases, because—
Well.
It’s too good to be true. She’s too good to be true; and if he doesn’t make fun of the situation he might break down crying. Ecstatic and desperate, overwhelmed crying. And even though Adrien had never had a one-night stand before, he’s moderately sure that’d be plain embarrassing.
“Well.” She leans back on his shoulder and tilts her head. Her eyes are glinting with so much emotion behind her spotted mask, Adrien forgets to breathe for a second. When her other hand cups his face and she trails soft kisses along his jaw, it decidedly only makes his situation harder. “Basically.”
If his head is already a lost cause, Adrien at least clears his throat. “You know, that’s fine with me, actually.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he confirms as his thumb resumes raising stars made of goosepimples on her abdomen. “For one, because right now you’re doing a thoroughly terrible job at keeping me at arm’s length. But more importantly, because that means I can be selfish too.”
She laughs into his ear, the sweet gush of air making him shiver. “Sorry, but I don’t think you’re capable of being selfish. You don’t have a mean bone in your body.”
“Oh, really?” He cocks an eyebrow over a smirk. “You know, it hurts that you have so little faith in me, Little Bug.”
Her lips stretch in a grin wide enough for her teeth to poke out, and Adrien decides he's definitely keeping the nickname.
“I guess you could try to prove me wrong,” she muses, twirling a strand of his hair round and round her finger lazily.
But Adrien knows better than to let himself be fooled by her nonchalance, when her blood races under his lips on her pulse point a million miles an hour. “You want to know how greedy golden boy Adrien Agreste can be? That’s new.”
She turns his way with her whole body, eyebrows pinched, and gives him a look.
“Now which one of us has little faith? I thought you knew that I don’t care about Golden Boy. I just want Adrien. The good, the bad, the ugly,” she says, eyes boring into his soul and turning his insides into molten lava. Tantalisingly slowly, she presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Can you counter how selfish that is, that I want it all?”
There’s a storm brewing under his skin but Adrien presses his forehead to hers and wills his voice to stay steady. “What if I say that I’ll wait for you?” he whispers. “If I say that I don’t care how long it takes, I’ll wait forever just to be with you. Is that selfish enough for you?”
She makes a funny sound at the back of her throat and buries her hand in his hair fully. She holds onto the nape of his neck more securely, as if afraid he’ll slip away if she doesn’t. Adrien takes her other hand and kisses into her palm, because he can’t find the words to explain, he isn’t going anywhere.
Maybe it’s his fault that her voice does tremble as it comes out. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that’s my plan.”
He looks at her from under his lashes as he kisses up her wrist, the inside of her forearm. “Really?”
“Really,” she huffs over a smile, and rolls her eyes so hard Adrien wants to laugh. “But if you really want to, I’m willing to share it. But just so you know, there is nothing remotely selfish about it, so you’ll have to find new ways for that.”
A well-aimed push is all it takes to have her back on the bed, black locks against white linen like a patch of midnight. Her eyes are the stars, glinting at him playfully when he leans over and captures her lips.
“Oh, I might have an idea or two...”