Chapter Text
Adrien is not entirely sure how he ends up accompanying Marinette to her dentist appointment. The last thing he remembers is entering the bakery and being stopped by Sabine. She claimed to be too busy with an order, or… well, he can’t remember why. Just that she asked him to make sure she gets home safely.
Fortunately, it's one of his rarer free days, so after sending a quick text to Nathalie to let her know where he'd be, Gorilla dropped them off. Marinette was adamant that he didn't have to wait, but the nurse ushered him in, anyway, and that was that. The surgery, itself, took about an hour and Adrien found himself feeling grateful for his kwami and the Candy Crush obsession he has. As much as he loves Ladybug, there are only so many times he can scroll through the Ladyblog.
"Adrien!"
The boy glances up from his phone and smiles when Marinette walks out, a goofy grin on her face. He stands and makes his way over, blinking in surprise when she throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. He grins and pets her hair before looking up at the nurse.
“She’s still coming down off the anesthesia,” the woman tells him, smiling softly. “Her pain medication should last for another hour or two. She can take more tonight before bed. The instructions are all there.”
Adrien accepts the small paper bag and gently nudges the ravenette clinging to him. “Ready to go?” The girl nods but doesn’t release her hold on him. “You gotta let go of me so we can walk, Mari.”
She shakes her head, arms tightening in silent protest, and the boy chuckles. It’s adorable and before he even realizes he’s doing it, he leans down and presses a kiss into her hair. It seems to placate her enough that she finally draws back and they start making their way to the car. She refuses to move out from under his arm, but he finds he doesn’t mind.
He helps her into the back seat and then slides in beside her, chuckling softly when she raises her arms so that he can get her seat belt. Once that’s done, she leans against him with a happy sigh. He drapes an arm across her shoulders and looks down at her with a smile.
“You okay there, Mari?”
“Mhm.”
With another chuckle, Adrien retrieves his phone and automatically clicks on his browser. He doesn’t get much further than that before Marinette hums.
“Who’s tha’?”
The blond flushes, but dutifully turns the screen towards her. “Uh, Ladybug.”
“Ladybug?” Marinette suddenly sits up straight and grins wide, a little trail of drool running down her chin. “ I’m Ladybug!”
Adrien laughs quietly and reaches out to wipe her face with the edge of his shirt. “That’s right, princess. Our everyday Ladybug.”
She squirms happily, tucking herself back against his side. “Chat calls me princess.”
“Oh yeah?” The model can’t help but smile, watching her nod seriously.
“ Yeeeaaahh. Also my lady,” she slurs. “And bugaboo. I pretend not to like it, but I dooo .”
Adrien freezes, the hand he has carding through her hair pausing. “H-he does? He calls you that?”
Marinette nods again with another happy sigh, blissfully unaware of the boy’s internal panic. He’s quiet for most of the ride back to the bakery before it seems to click in his mind. Because who else but their everyday Ladybug would turn out to be, well, Ladybug? It just… fits.
Adrien looks down at the sleepy girl with tousled hair, who’s starting to drool a little, and feels his heart grow three sizes. He leans down and kisses the tip of her nose.
“Sleep well, my lady.”
[][][][][][][][][][]
Marinette can’t get three steps into the school before she’s a blushing, stammering mess. “A-Alya, I can’t! Who knows what I said? What if I t-told him I like him?”
“He’ll fall madly in love with you and sweep you off your feet to go buy your first hamster,” she deadpans.
“ Alya! ”
The reporter laughs. “Girl, c’mon. Whatever you said, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.”
She drags her friend into the building. Marinette whines the whole way there, finally snapping her mouth closed when they reach their classroom. They walk in and she tries to keep her eyes off the blond in the front, but it seems he has other ideas.
“Good morning Marinette!”
She squeaks. He’s grinning when she peers up at him. Alya arches a brow. “Who am I, Monsieur Pigeon?”
“We don’t talk about Monsieur Pigeon, babe,” Nino tells her seriously. He then turns on his friend, who looks a little red in the face. “But she has a point. What the hell, man? The most I got today was a distracted nod. What gives?”
“Um, I just… er—”
Mme. Bustier chooses that moment to start class and the girls hurry to their seats. Alya takes one look at the ravenette beside her and chuckles when she sees the girl with her face in her arms, no doubt silently freaking out. She rolls her eyes in fond exasperation and glances down at Nino to share a look when she realizes that the sunshine child turned to watch them sit and is now staring at Marinette with a soft smile.
She narrows her eyes and stares, which he must feel because he looks at her, flushes red, and whips back around. Alya hums thoughtfully. Maybe she was right. Only Marinette would find a way to confess while under the effects of anesthesia. She’ll just have to grill him later.
[][][][][][][][][][]
Later happens to come a few hours after when Marinette goes to the bathroom before lunch. Alya follows the blond into the locker room and clears her throat.
“Okay, Agreste. Spill.”
Adrien startles, books falling to the floor with a loud thud . He whips around to face her with a wild-eyed stare. “A-Alya? Spill what?”
She squints at him and is pleased when he audibly gulps. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you staring at my girl. Why?”
“W-who?”
Alya stares, unblinking. The boy pales.
“O-oh! Marinette? Right. Um, y’see, I… er… like her?” He says it slowly, like he’s not quite sure, but Alya knows how to sniff out a lie. She can tell that’s not all there is to it, but how it happened doesn’t matter as much at the moment.
“It’s about time! She confessed to you, didn’t she?”
“Confessed?” Now he seems lost. She rolls her eyes.
“Yeah. I mean, she told you, didn’t she?”
“Uh…”
Alya smothers a laugh with her hand. “Mon Dieu, she didn’t! Then, wait, what happened?”
“W-what? Alya, what are you talking about?”
She points an accusing finger at him and says, “You hardly even noticed her before that appointment, and now suddenly you’re crushing on her? I don’t buy it.”
“I noticed her,” he grumbles, but Alya only arches a brow. He sighs. “I… I don’t know what to tell you, Alya. I just… saw her, y’know?”
Alya thinks for a moment, pressing her lips together, and then nods. “Okay. I believe you. It’s about time, though, is all I’m saying.”
He sighs again, but there’s a smile on his face when she finally turns and leaves the room in search of her friend. It doesn’t take long and Alya grabs her by the arm the second she’s out of the bathroom. Marinette yelps, but once she sees who it is dragging her outside, she rolls her eyes.
“Where are we going?”
“Girl, I have news,” she says instead of answering, pausing when they reach the street. Marinette rubs her arm where the reporter’s fingers dug in a little too tight, catching her apologetic frown.
“What?” She frowns and then gasps. “You promised you wouldn’t elope, Alya! What about your dress? You told me—”
“What? No, Nino and I aren’t eloping.” Alya rolls her eyes. “I figured out why Adrien’s been acting so weird.”
Marinette’s brows reach higher. “Adrien hasn’t been acting weird.”
Alya snickers. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice him staring at you all day.”
“ What? He was staring at me? All day?”
“Yup,” she says, popping the P. “It was like looking at a slightly more masculine Marinette. Who’s also blonde. He’s totally into you.”
Marinette mumbles incoherently into her hands. Luckily, Alya is fluent in Mari-speak.
“Oh, he told me. I asked him why—”
“ What? ”
The girl grimaces and sticks a finger in her ear, certain her friend has just popped her eardrum with her shriek. " Gah! Marinette, inside voice, please."
“Alya! What did he say?” The designer surges forward to grab her arms, holding her in a death grip and staring intensely.
Alya smirks. “Oh, y’know… Just that he likes you. He said he saw you.”
Marinette squeaks, releasing her friend in order to tug on her pigtails. “Y-you’re sure? He said that? He said that? Word for word?”
“Yeah? Why, is that a bad thing?” Alya hums, shrugging. “I thought it was cute.”
“Hah! Cute!” Marinette straightens suddenly, her expression blank. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go scream.”
The reporter waves her away quickly, quite used to this by now. She knows if Marinette says she needs to scream, she needs to scream. She’ll be back after lunch. Maybe…
Alya grimaces and then fishes her phone out of her pocket to shoot her a quick text telling her she’ll see her tomorrow morning.