Work Text:
At exactly 20h00, Marinette took a few of the best looking macarons from the family bakery, packed them into a bag, and ran up to her bedroom to transform.
Now Ladybug was on her way to patrol, the box of treats in her hands. She was bringing them to their regular spot to give to Chat Noir. She arrived there a bit early, so she sat down and waited on the top of the roof.
Yes, Marinette did bring macarons from her family’s bakery to Ladybug and Chat Noir's patrol that night. She just could not get enough of that awe struck look on Chat Noir’s face whenever she brought any sort of treats. Sure, it might be a horrible idea, and sure, it might end terrible for them and everyone else, but she knew Chat Noir had a point when he said she never took risks.
So here she was, taking risks exactly like he said. Her definition of risks just came in the form of treats from a bakery.
So what if she still had nightmares about the end of the world? Here she was, overcoming her fears, and Chat Noir had the audacity to complain .
“Bugaboo, when you said you were going to take a risk on this exact patrol, I was expecting some sort of identity reveal. Not bakery treats.”
“Stop whining and just eat the damn macarons.”
“I am not whining! I just expected something bigger and more... extra.” a pause, “Not that I don't appreciate the free food,” he added, before taking a macaron and eating it in one bite.
“Jeez, slow down a bit!”
“Mmpphh… it’s… mmm… so good!”
“Do not talk with your mouth open, Chat Noir. It's gross,” she smirked, enjoying his reaction.
He finished the macaron before asking, “Where did you buy these?”
Oh boy. Here comes that risk she was thinking about.
“Uh… they're from the bakery my family owns,”
He froze, examining the macarons carefully. She watched him for a couple of seconds while he was focused on the treats she brought, though it felt like years.
“Hm,” was all he said. “I think I recognize that logo on the box from somewhere, but I'm not sure where it's from.”
“O– oh! Well, um, you probably just– I mean, you probably are just– I mean, you definitely are just imagining things– or, uh… mistook it for a different logo. It's not, um, it’s not like it is the biggest bakery in Paris, you know? Yeah. Um… yeah.”
“Okay… Well, I think we should get started with the actual patrol now,”
“Sure– uh, bug out!”
Adrien just couldn’t resist the temptation. He was curious, and unable to deny that he had seen that logo somewhere before. He's 90 percent sure that it was the logo of Marinette’s bakery.
So, the next morning, he decided to test out his theory. Can you blame him?
With a certain courage he did not know he possessed, he asked his bodyguard to drive him to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and to not bother his father about it. With a hesitant grunt, the Gorilla agreed.
He eagerly walked in, the ding! of the bell alerting Sabine, who was at the counter.
“Hi, Adrien! Marinette is upstairs,” she said.
“Oh, I only wanted to take a look at some of the sweets.”
“That’s great! You can take a box of twelve macarons, free of charge, if you would like, since you're a friend of Marinette’s.”
“No, no, it’s fine, but thank you! I'm just looking,” he clarified.
“Okay,” she said, looking slightly confused, as if she was trying to figure out why he came all the way to the bakery to just look at the food.
He examined the logo on each of the boxes set up for display. Sure enough, it was the same as the ones Ladybug gave him.
Shockingly, he couldn’t even bring himself to be surprised. Just… relieved. He had hoped that Ladybug and Marinette were the same person for a long time now, and the confirmation of that made his stomach flutter even thinking of it.
He would tell her he knew on their next patrol, which was that night.
But you know how the saying goes: curiosity killed the cat. And everyone else, apparently.
"Ladybug," Chat Noir started, "please don't get mad at me, but..."
"But what?" she asked.
"I figured out your identity- I'm sorry! I just saw that logo somewhere else and so it just clicked when I-"
“What?!” she gaped. She was starting to feel her breaths coming faster and faster, and she struggled to gasp for air. “No… no way… this i– this isn’t happening!”
“La– Mar– Lady– Gah! Was I not supposed to know?” he panicked, he never wanted to see her the way she looked in his bedroom again. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
“You can’t know! You c– you can’t know! No, no, no, no… ”
“Ladybug, what’s going on?!”
“I’m sorry… I’m– I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t apologize! Please, just talk to me! What happened?”
“I need– I need to go.” she muttered, before swinging off into the distance.
She didn’t hear the flapping of a butterfly’s wings following close behind her.
–One Day Earlier–
At exactly 20h00, Marinette took a few of the best looking macarons from the family bakery, packed them into a bag, and ran up to her bedroom to transform.
Now Ladybug was on her way to patrol, the box of treats in her hands. She was bringing them to their regular spot to give to Chat Noir. She arrived there a bit early, so she sat down and waited on the top of the roof.
She was interrupted by a whooshing sound behind her, kind of like a portal had opened–
No. Not again. She couldn’t do that again.
“Ladybug,” she heard Alix’s voice, and turned, hoping to see some sort of miracle, like Alix was just visiting her or just needed some assistance with homework or–
Bunnyx was standing there, portal open. She frowned, as if bracing herself for Ladybug’s reaction, before speaking.
“I’m sorry.”