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She was late.
Patrol had come and gone without a hitch. Marinette had no excuse of higher duty, she just lost track of time once she came home. It wasn't her fault, and her friends knew to expect this of her by now. She did try not to be late, there just always ended up being more to do before she left than she originally guessed.
She wasn't fussed. She hated keeping her friends waiting, but if her organisational failings had to occur somewhere, she'd rather it be in her civilian life.
As she closed her front door behind her, her bag slung over her shoulder with a bottle of vodka zipped neatly inside it, Marinette wondered if she would have been on time if Adrien hadn’t cancelled. Well, ‘cancelled’ was a strong word — he had never said he would be able to come, just that he would try asking, and asking had gone exactly as well for him as it had the other hundred times.
She came to a stop at a crossing. The sun was completely set, the light of the city now replaced by the white and yellow and red of headlights and street lamps.
She could picture it perfectly in her mind: she arrives at the meeting spot first, to be joined seconds afterwards by Adrien, and in the precious minutes before Alya and Nino get there, they share something raw and vulnerable that catalyses the start of their relationship.
The lights on the crossing turned green. Marinette shook the thought out of her mind. She kept her eyes trained on her shoes as she crossed the road.
That would never happen. In all likelihood she would have spent equally long stressing about Adrien as she had in getting ready to leave.
Enough, she told herself. She was seeing Luka tonight. She didn’t reckon she had a chance with him anymore — even if she found a way to work around the pressing responsibilities of being Ladybug, she was certain Luka wouldn’t trust her with his heart again. For now, she had his friendship, and that was enough. It wasn’t something she was going to jeopardise by having Adrien on her mind.
She squeezed past a group of people taking up most of the pavement. Ahead of her, she caught a glimpse of short blond hair and a coat which she recognised. Her heart jumped. No, it’s not Adrien, you fucknut. That is a very common coat.
The person was walking as briskly as she was. They both turned the same corner, and Marinette finally noticed the person's shoes: orange Converse.
Holy fuck. It was Adrien.
Marinette stayed silent. How could it be Adrien? Had he— had he lied? Did he have some secret thing to go to for which he was willing to sneak out when he wasn’t even willing to sneak out to see his friends?
Of course not. Marinette dismissed the thought. Adrien, who had once snuck out entirely so that he could go to school and make the aforementioned friends.
His father had said no. In all the time Marinette had known him, his father’s word had been final.
So there it was. At long last, Adrien had decided to sneak out, despite being told not to.
Marinette realised the gravity of the situation. “Adrien!” she called, speeding to a jog to catch up to him.
He turned. He smiled.
If this was the first time he was sneaking out to meet up with them, Marinette would make damn sure it was the best night of his life. He needed to know that they welcomed this decision from him. She needed him to want to do this again.
“Hey, Marinette!” he said, enveloping her in a hug the moment she was close enough.
Marinette’s brain shut off, too stunned to think. As Adrien drew back and began to explain what Marinette had already guessed, she balled up all her feelings for him and shoved them into the deepest corner of her mind. Then, with a practised casual manner she usually reserved for superhero interviews, she laughed and nodded and smiled along to his words.
Above all, she couldn’t let her crush on him get in the way.
“Dude,” is all Nino could say when he opened his door to Adrien and Marinette.
As it turned out, Nino and Alya had been running late as well, having hardly left Nino’s by the time Marinette called them to tell them the news. The four of them therefore decided Nino’s was the easiest meeting point.
“It’s a good idea,” Adrien had reasoned. “I need to borrow some clothes anyway so I don’t get recognised.”
Never mind my wardrobe full of genderless clothing, which we’re only a street away from, Marinette had thought. This wasn’t about her. This wasn’t about her.
Nino and Adrien met in a bone-crushing hug. Marinette wasn’t sure who had initiated it. Adrien laughed, a little hysterically, and Nino picked him up and carried him into the apartment.
“We got him! We finally got him!” Nino yelled over shrieks of laughter from Adrien.
Marinette walked through the door and closed it behind her. She began making her way towards Alya, who was gleefully watching this go down from her seat at the dining table.
“I can’t believe you snuck out!” Nino was saying. He had put Adrien back down now.
“Neither can I,” Adrien said evenly, eyes wide.
As she passed them, Marinette just about caught Nino saying, “I’m really proud of you,” under his breath. She felt her body go warm at having overheard something that wasn’t meant for her ears. She put it out of her mind, and put it out of her mind, and sat down at the table with Alya. Her best friend passed her a severe look. Marinette shrunk in her chair.
Flopping forward onto the table, she said, “I'm having a crisis.”
Alya leaned over her and started whispering in her ear. “Did you know he’s only betrayed his father’s word in the past to see Kagami? Makes you think what made him decide to sneak out tonight.”
“Alya.”
Marinette felt Alya pause at the warning note in her voice. The two girls’ heads snapped up as Adrien laughed loudly on the other side of the room. He was far more animated tonight than he usually was at school.
“Look, all I’m saying is you have a good opening if you want to make your move,” Alya continued.
“And what if he doesn’t like me back?” Marinette countered. “What if he rejects me and then he feels too awkward to hang out with us in future?”
Alya frowned. She was quiet for a long moment. She sat back in her chair, unable to argue with Marinette's reasoning. Of course she couldn't. Marinette was in Ladybug Mode.
The two girls watched Nino and Adrien disappear into Nino’s room. As soon as the door closed, Marinette laid out the plan.
“I think we should make an effort so he has a good time,” Marinette said, averting Alya’s gaze. “So, like, we should do more than just go to Juleka’s thing. None of us should get drunker than him. That sort of thing.”
“That’s a good point.” Alya raised her voice. “Adrien, do you drink?”
“Uhhh,” came his reply. Marinette shoved Alya’s shoulder.
“It’s alright if you don’t!” Marinette added, then let out a hushed, “Ow!” as Alya poked her in the ribs.
“I mean, I do,” Adrien amended. There was a fractiousness to his voice. “I have. Just, uh, not more than, like, a glass of wine with dinner.”
“Okay, thank you, Adrien,” said Alya. She turned back to Marinette and whispered, “So should we get some wine, or…?”
“Stop,” Marinette hissed, though she was laughing. “I don’t have that kind of pocket money.”
“Me neither.”
Alya brought out her phone. “Should we try and get into a bar?”
Marinette thought about it. “Mmm, no. Too risky. And if someone recognises him, then he’s broken a law as well as just, like, a rule.”
“True.”
“What are you two scheming about?”
Marinette jumped at the sound of Nino’s voice. “Nothing,” Marinette said at the exact moment Alya replied, “Adrien.”
“Marinette, dude, please,” Nino began, and Marinette cut him off. “Yeah, I know. That’s not what’s happening. No Marinette scheming tonight.”
“We’re trying to make things more exciting,” Alya explained, wiggling her eyebrows. “For him.”
Nino slowly began to smile. “Ohhh.”
Marinette stood, allowing Nino to slide into the seat next to Alya, so she could pour herself a drink and give herself a pep talk in the kitchen. Checking to make sure she couldn’t be seen, she let Tikki out of her bag, pressing a finger to her lips so the kwami knew to be quiet.
Tikki watched Marinette knowingly as she filled a glass with water and drank half of it. She sighed, and Tikki hugged her face, which made her relax a bit. Tikki moved to face Marinette, holding either side of her nose and staring right into her eyes. Marinette laughed as she tried and failed to focus her eyes. She let out a breath, nodded her head, and drank the rest of her water.
Mouth full, she gave Tikki a thumbs up, and gestured for her to get back in her bag.
Marinette strode out of the kitchen, and nearly choked on her water as it went down.
Adrien was back, wearing an oversized black and white band t-shirt and baggy black jeans. Really, it wasn’t high fashion or anything — and she had seen Nino in both items of clothing and never had such a reaction — but the shock of seeing him in something else, so different to his school clothes or modelling clothes…
Black was a good colour on him.
Casually, she moved to sit against the back of the couch. She intended to go on her phone, but made the mistake of glancing up one last time and meeting Adrien’s eyes. He was leaning over Alya and Nino. He smiled, then dropped his gaze back to Alya’s phone.
Marinette busied herself with her phone, checking through her friends’ Instagram stories without processing any of them. When she glanced up next, Adrien was standing in the middle of the floor, striking poses. She wanted to die.
“Unrecognisable,” Alya was saying. “You could be walking down the street, I wouldn’t know a thing.”
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. Marinette noticed his other hand, now dropped at his side. It was shaking.
That calmed her somewhat. Perhaps Adrien would be too caught up in his own worries to notice if Marinette was acting strangely.
“Do you think it’s enough?” Adrien said, glancing Marinette’s way. “Do you think strangers will recognise me?”
“Uh.” Marinette tried to rewire her brain to that of someone who didn’t see Adrien Agreste every day.
“You’ll be alright,” Alya said, saving her.
Adrien nodded. “But we could do more.”
“Yeah. I mean, we could just, like, put you in drag.”
Nino tensed. “Ha, yeah, but he’s not, like, a doll.”
“Oh, yeah, no,” Alya said quickly. “I know. That’s not what I meant—”
Marinette tuned them out as they argued quietly, respectful of each other but unwilling to lash out, and instead turned her attention to Adrien. He quirked his eyebrows at her, and she let out a giggle at the shared moment of awkwardness.
Alya was addressing them again. “You know I view you as a person and not a thing to be dressed up, right Adrien?”
“Uhh…” Adrien grinned, hesitant to be involved in this. “Yes?”
“Right, good.” Alya turned to Nino, who shrugged. She leaned in and stroked the back of his head. “Nino’s being a bit protective.”
Nino’s expression softened. They kissed. Marinette felt her gaze slip over to Adrien before she thought better of it. To her relief, Adrien had been watching them too, and was now looking at her. His expression was coming down from a smile, and in its place, under its surface, was something abjectly lonely. Marinette looked away.
“Holy shit,” Alya said. She was looking at something on her phone.
“What is it?” Nino asked. Alya twisted in his embrace to show him the screen. Nino’s face abruptly lit up. For Adrien and Marinette’s benefit, Alya explained, “Juleka got a stick n’ poke.”
“What?!” Marinette picked her phone up.
“I think Rose gave it to her.”
“Let’s see?” Adrien said, just as Alya put her phone down so she could cradle Nino’s head against her shoulder.
“It’s on Instagram,” she advised.
“I left my phone at home.”
Nino looked up. “...Why?”
Calmly, Adrien said, “I don’t know if my father will try to track it.”
That caught their attention. Marinette froze with her thumb hovering over her phone screen. Alya pulled away from Nino slightly.
Adrien walked over to sit beside Marinette. He leaned over her shoulder. Belatedly, she realised he wanted to see the tattoo. She pulled the post up, and let him look at it while she made eye contact with Alya and Nino across the room.
“I’ve always wanted a tattoo,” Adrien said, gracefully breaking the tension he had created. He leaned out of Marinette’s space, and she could breathe again.
Nino cheered. “Fuck yeah!”
“Rose is at Juleka’s party, you know,” Alya said helpfully.
Adrien grinned, giddy. “That’s such a bad idea.”
“Do it!” Nino encouraged, just as Alya said, “It’s an awesome idea, you mean!”
Marinette could hardly believe her ears. “Are we doing pre-drinks?”
“I’d have to get it on my thigh, or something,” Adrien continued. “Anywhere else might be visible in a photoshoot.”
Alya addressed Marinette first. “We can, but I don’t mind either way. Adrien, do you know what you’d get as a tattoo?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
The other three waited. When he failed to elaborate, Nino prompted, “So, what would you get?”
“Ah…” Adrien’s face went pink. “I’ll tell you once I’ve actually made a decision on whether I want it or not. It’s embarrassing.”
“Right.” Nino grinned, then turned to Marinette. “I don’t think we should do pre-drinks.”
Yes. That was sensible.
Marinette stood up and clapped her hands together. "Let's get going, then!"
"If you could go anywhere in Paris at this time of night," said Alya to Adrien, "where would you go?"
Marinette had spent so long worrying over what would make tonight perfect that she had completely bypassed the obvious solution of asking Adrien directly. Alya, reliable as she was, only put up with Marinette for so long before deciding to cut through the bullshit.
"Ah… the Eiffel Tower?" Adrien suggested.
Alya laughed at him. "What in the fresh tourist hell?"
"I know it's cliché," Adrien smiled, unaffected by Alya's teasing, "I just really love it. I have good memories tied to it."
"That's sweet," Alya admitted. "...I guess we're going to the Eiffel Tower."
The Eiffel Tower wasn't too far upriver from the Couffaines' houseboat and so the detour fit neatly into the night's plan. The journey there was filled with loud conversation. Adrien surprised Marinette by being rowdier than the rest of them, and Marinette surprised herself with how easily she got into the rhythm of conversation despite his presence.
When they arrived, there were still many tourists about, and so the group came to a stop just outside of the crowd.
"It's so pretty when it's lit up like this," Adrien said, his awe so clear in his voice that Marinette ached to understand why it meant so much to him.
She faced the Eiffel Tower full-on. If it meant nothing to her before becoming a superhero, it had since fallen further from her graces by becoming a regular nuisance during akuma attacks. Admittedly, it could also be useful in those very same attacks. And she and Chat often used it as a point of reference when they patrolled the city.
It was pretty when it was lit up like this.
"I wish we could get a better view of it," Marinette said.
Nino hummed. "You guys stay here, I'll try and find a nicer spot."
Marinette opened her mouth to protest, but he was already gone.
"I meant, like, not on the ground," she said belatedly.
"Like on a rooftop," Adrien agreed.
"Exactly." Marinette glanced at him.
The two looked at the buildings behind them, thinking out loud as they tried to discern whether any of them would have public roof access. The clear answer was no, and so there was a beat of silence before they moved on to discussing the logistics of sneaking onto a roof. All the while, Alya watched them, caught up in their own world, and tried not to laugh.
Marinette held back a bit from the conversation, offering uncertain and half-assed suggestions in place of giving voice to the part of her brain that knew she could get up there in a second if she wanted to. Adrien was similarly uninspired, likely because he wasn't too keen on being caught in the act, and so the topic ground to a halt.
Alya chose this time to chip in, "It's a pity I'm not Rena Rouge anymore," with a glint in her eye.
"Yes," Marinette agreed sadly, sharing a grin with Alya. "Such a pity."
The two girls turned their attention back to Adrien, who thankfully hadn't picked up on the implications of their exchange.
He sighed softly. "I come here sometimes with the girl I have a crush on."
The words stung Marinette against her best efforts not to let them. Adrien continued.
"Not even on purpose. We just end up here a lot of the time. I kinda…associate it with her, in a way, even though I've lived here all my life." He turned away. "I like her so much it makes me crazy sometimes."
Marinette looked up. She felt it, all of a sudden, what Adrien was seeing. She wondered if the Eiffel Tower would now embed itself in her memory as a reminder of Adrien, just as it had done for him and his mystery crush.
"Anyway, that's why Kagami and I didn't work out," Adrien said. "Other things played into it, too, but the more I think about it, the more I realise I was just too focused on someone else."
He glanced apologetically at Marinette. It took her one momentary heart attack to realise this was because of her friendship with Kagami.
"Someone else from fencing?" Marinette asked lightly.
"No," Adrien shook his head. "You guys don't know her."
"Ahh, she goes to a different school," Alya nodded, sharing a gleeful glance with Marinette, who rolled her eyes. "Gotcha."
"I mean, yeah," said Adrien, not getting the joke.
Nino returned unsuccessful, and Adrien announced that he wanted to leave anyway. As they walked away, Marinette sent a look to Alya that said, Any idea who it is? and Alya sent her one back that said, No clue.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.”
The four of them had left the apartment. Marinette and Alya were in a mini-supermarket, having been nominated as the most likely of the four to be sold drinks without ID. Alya seized the chance to bring this up the moment they were out of earshot of the other two.
“Hm?”
“About Adrien. About tonight being the wrong time.”
“Ah. Well, we know he likes someone else now."
"People can like more than one person at once, Marinette. You of all people should know this."
"Yeah, I guess. He just seems so set on this other girl."
Alya hung back from the counter. The clerk working the till graciously ignored them. She sighed. “Look, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while. You know you can’t live your life in accordance with what Adrien wants, right? So, sure, don’t kiss him out of the blue or anything, but don’t pass up on a good moment to tell him how you feel just because it might go wrong.”
She put the drinks on the counter, then turned back to Marinette to deliver the final blow. “Because it won’t. Isn’t the entire reason you like him because he’s kind?”
The store clerk glanced at them, amused, but said nothing. Marinette watched in stunned silence as Alya paid. She had nothing to say.
Beside the door, they divided up the drinks between them, Marinette putting her share in her bag. Now that Alya knew she was Ladybug, there had been many instances where she had told Marinette something approximating You deserve nice things. The truth of Alya’s words hung between them, stinging and humiliating even as they were well-intentioned. There was nothing to say.
Except, “But I’m also seeing Luka tonight—”
Alya scoffed, Ach! and said, “I give up,” as they exited the store.
When they spotted the houseboat, Adrien froze. The other three dutifully stopped a few paces afterwards, turned to see what was wrong.
He struggled to get the words out. “Am I going to end up making a complete idiot of myself?”
Marinette passed a distressed glance to Alya. Sheltered though he was, it was unlike Adrien to be nervous about social situations.
Nino frowned. “Whaddya mean? Of course not.”
Adrien fidgeted. “I just mean that I’ve never done this before.” He looked over to the boat, his eyes round. He laughed. “I just…don’t want to fuck it up.”
Nino approached him and took a hold of both his shoulders. “You,” he said, taking an exaggerated breath and running his hands down Adrien’s arms, “need to chill. Those are your friends. They’re not expecting you to be the life of the party, they just want to hang out with you. Okay?”
Adrien mirrored Nino’s breath in, and out. “Okay.” He nodded.
They hugged. Too late, Marinette turned away. Alya seemed to turn away at the same moment, her widened eyes connecting with Marinette’s. With her back turned to the boys, she held up her hand, then let her wrist fall limp.
“Alya!” Marinette hissed.
Alya giggled. She joined Marinette, sliding an arm around her shoulders and leading her round in a wide berth of Nino and Adrien and towards the boat. Voice hushed, she said, “Hey, we’re all gay here. Well, not Nino. But he doesn’t mind. He says I’m basically married to you. It’s a thing.”
“Oh my god,” Marinette said suddenly.
“What?”
She looked back to check that the boys were still out of earshot. They were walking a good few paces behind them. “Is Adrien straight?”
“Marinette, we literally know he likes girls. He literally dated Kagami.”
“No, like—” Marinette reeled. “If I date him, am I gonna be dating a straight boy?”
Alya barked out a laugh. “Oh my god.”
“I hadn’t considered that. Oh my god, what the hell? Why is this freaking me out?”
“Ohhh, Luka,” Alya said melodramatically, leaning into Marinette. “Do you wanna get back together? You see, it’s just that I’ve realised the other boy I was pining for is a cishet. The horror.”
“I hate you,” Marinette groaned. They boarded the boat. Ivan was closest, and said hello. When Nino and Adrien arrived on deck, Rose appeared from nowhere to hug Adrien. “I’m really glad you could make it!” she said, earnest as ever.
Adrien beamed. “Me too.”
“Adrien wants a stick n’ poke, if you’re up for it,” Nino said.
Rose’s eyes went wide. She looked to Adrien for confirmation, who just gave her another smile. She all but squealed. As she hurried below deck, she yelled back to them, “I’m on a fucking roll, tonight, guys!”
Marinette went to the table where the drinks were and unpacked her bag. Adrien followed behind her. "So, you're getting the tattoo?"
Adrien nodded. "I am."
"Can we know what it is, then?" Alya said, resting her chin on Marinette's shoulder.
"Um." Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just…so sappy. Can I have something to drink first?"
Nino set to finding Adrien something to drink, which took a few attempts due to Adrien’s indecision. He went for vodka and orange juice, emphasis on the orange juice. Marinette nodded at his choice. Good, the night was good so far, Adrien was enjoying himself. Good.
Her eyes flicked around the deck.
"Oh," Marinette said. Adrien followed her gaze and landed on Luka. He was on the raised bit of the deck they used as a stage, talking animatedly to his sister with a beer bottle in one hand.
Adrien hadn't hung out with Luka very much, nor had Alya and Nino. Marinette, being Luka's ex-girlfriend-turned-tentative-friend, was the only of the four of them who properly knew him. Be that as it may, Luka Couffaine was unfortunately a very cool person, and Marinette's relationship with him and the others' lack thereof did nothing to stop Luka from being equal parts alluring and intimidating.
"What's…" Adrien trailed off. He dragged his eyes away from Luka and cleared his throat. "What's the situation with you and Luka, then?"
It took Marinette three sluggish seconds to realise she was being spoken to. "Hm? Oh, uh…"
She struggled for words. Adrien glanced at Alya, whose eyes were wide and gleeful. She opened her mouth and raised her eyebrows expectantly as she watched Marinette. At last, Marinette sighed, and said, "It's complicated," at the exact same moment Alya did.
"Shut up!" Marinette added laughingly. "It is complicated!"
"Oh, I know. I know. There actually isn't a better way of explaining it." Alya passed a look to Nino, who shrugged and nodded his approval.
"...Okay," Adrien said. For a suspended moment, Marinette was acutely aware of how they were making him feel like an outsider. She grasped for a way to mend it, but Adrien spoke before she got the chance. "I meant more, like, do you still like him?"
Silence.
Nino, of course, couldn’t say anything. Opposed as he was to Marinette making a move on Adrien tonight of all nights, he wasn’t going to do anything to ruin her chances with him.
Alya, meanwhile, knew the full story: that Luka and Marinette had broken up not because Marinette didn’t have feelings for him, but because she didn’t have time for him on top of her superhero work. She searched desperately for a way to explain it that wasn’t an outright lie or something that would make Marinette look bad. She came up with nothing.
And Marinette? Marinette was realising with complete horror that history was just set to repeat itself. Her problems with Luka had begun when he thought she was prioritising Adrien over him. Now, she ran the risk of losing any chance she had with Adrien by making him think the same thing about her and Luka.
Through all of their silence, Adrien just felt more and more like an outcast.
Marinette said, “No. No I don’t.”
Adrien smirked. “You sure?”
“I don’t have a crush on him,” Marinette said. The words came out forceful as she tried to keep all of her emotions inside.
Adrien’s face went abruptly neutral. “Okay,” he said, and walked away. Marinette stared at the empty space where he had been with an open mouth. She placed both hands on the sides of her face and cast a guilty glance to where Adrien was now talking to Rose on the other side of the deck.
“You made him feel like he isn’t one of the gang,” Nino said.
“I know,” Marinette whined. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool, I guess. I really don’t know what I would have said in your position.”
“I’m gonna fix it.” Marinette met Nino’s eyes with a determined fire in her own.
Nino nodded, satisfied with that, and joined Adrien.
"He can be such a protective dick sometimes," Alya said. "It's sort of sweet, though."
Marinette hummed in agreement, then sighed. “I still wanna talk to Luka,” she said in a low voice. “How do I do that without looking like a complete liar?”
“You are a complete liar. But I love you anyways.” Alya leaned against the table beside her. “And, look, you can’t, because he’s talking to Adrien.”
“Ah.”
Marinette looked over and caught sight of Luka taking Adrien’s hand and holding his palm face-up. He said something, and Adrien laughed.
“It’s a complete miracle Luka doesn’t hate Adrien,” Alya said. “I think it’s your Ladybug luck. Though, I guess you could say the same thing about you and Kagami.”
“If I had Ladybug luck, Luka and I wouldn’t have broken up in the first place.”
Alya looked at Marinette, staring miserably into her cup. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her close. “It’s your night too, babe, come on now.”
"I know. I just want things to be perfect." She took a breath, and shook herself as she let it out. "Okay. Okay. Time to save the day, or whatever."
Alya grinned. "That's my girl!"
Luka looked over as Marinette approached. "Hey."
"Hi." Be cool. Be normal. She reached up to hug him, and felt Adrien watching them. This was fine. Juggling Luka and Adrien's feelings at the same time? She was basically an expert at handling too much at once.
"How are we getting along?" Marinette asked jovially.
"Well." Luka placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder. "Rose is drawing up some designs over there—" He pointed across the deck— "so it shouldn't be too long now."
Marinette nodded coolly and tried to think of a way to get one of the boys away from the other without anyone getting upset over it.
"Can I borrow some...uh, shorts?" Adrien asked Luka.
"Yeah, sure, in a sec." Luka met Marinette's eyes. "Do you know what he's getting as a tattoo?"
"No," she answered.
Luka smiled brightly. Marinette didn't know what to make of his reaction, and Luka didn't say anything more. He nodded and left with a, "Let me get those shorts for you, Adrien."
Well. That was easy.
Marinette fidgeted. "What's your tattoo design?"
Adrien scratched his arm and wouldn't meet her eye. "A ladybug and a cat paw print."
She smirked. "I didn't know you were a fan. You and Alya should link up some time."
"Ha, yeah." He still wouldn't look at her, and he didn't seem like he was about to volunteer his reasons behind the tattoo design, so Marinette decided to rip off the bandaid.
"I do still like Luka," she said quietly, and he nodded. "I just don't want to give the impression that I'm moping, is all."
The act of bravado was adjacent to the truth. Marinette was very pleased with it.
Adrien frowned. "I'm not going to pity you. I understand."
Marinette nodded, because she couldn't tell him he'd never understand.
"I think he likes you back still," he continued with a sly smile. She almost forgot herself entirely at the sight of it.
She shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't think he wants to get back together even if that's true." Her next words were soft. "I really hurt him." She had never admitted it aloud before.
Adrien slid his gaze over to hers. "Like I hurt Kagami."
That comparison settled uncomfortably in Marinette's chest. Although the real circumstances of their breakup were far from this, Marinette had left Luka believing she was just too focused on Adrien. This was, as he had said, exactly what Adrien faced with Kagami.
She didn't expect to feel this sort of kinship with Adrien, certainly not over people they had hurt. It went against everything about the unattainably perfect image she had of him.
Luka returned with the promised pair of shorts and handed them to Adrien. If he noticed the weird tension between them, he didn't comment on it. Adrien went below deck to change.
"This is a rare instance, Adrien being out this late," Luka said.
Marinette breathed out. "I don't wanna talk about Adrien. How are you doing?"
After deciding to be friends again, Marinette easily regained her footing with Luka and returned to the same rapport they had had before and during the time they dated. Her guilt still weighed on her, but she didn't let it affect things when she was with him.
There were certain things about herself that she could never share with him. To make up for it, she shared everything else.
They were chatting at the drinks table as Marinette refilled their glasses when Adrien returned, now wearing bright green gym shorts.
Marinette dragged her eyes away from him and cleared her throat. "He looks like he's in his pyjamas," she said neutrally.
Luka was not so inclined. "That's a very domestic thing for you to say."
Marinette made a noise like she was dying. "Can you let me live, please."
"It's very fun to tease you about this," Luka said. "I also think he looks good."
"Right?" Marinette complained. "You could put him in anything and he'd make it look fashionable. Troubles of being friends with a model."
Luka laughed. "Yeah."
Marinette handed Luka his cup and leaned against the table next to him. They did not speak, or face each other, but instead found comfort in the firm press of their shoulders against one another.
Like this, the demands of social interaction and the high stakes of the night all melted away. Marinette returned to herself, content and warmed by the alcohol in her system and thoroughly glad to still have the boy beside her in her life.
She wanted to tell him she was Ladybug, so badly her heart ached. She busied herself with this and that throughout the day so she didn't have to think about it, but this comfort was about as close as she could be to a person without giving them the truth. She wanted nothing more than to lean into him further, and being aware of that insurmountable distance between them just made her feel lonely.
Commotion on the other side of the boat brought Marinette out of her thoughts.
Adrien was gripping the edge of the chair he was sitting in, with Rose kneeling on the floor beside him, the needle in her hand frozen midair as she looked up at him in shock. Marinette registered that Adrien had just yelled, "Stop!"
Now, he scrambled to his feet, as if Rose might try and forcibly give him a tattoo. He seemed to realise his mistake and went pink in the face as he tried to apologise. "Sorry! I'm sorry, I just— I can't, what if— what if it gets infected?! I'd have to explain to my father why I need to see a doctor and I—!" He took a sharp breath. "I just can't!"
Rose stood up. Her expression was dazed but her voice, as ever, was kind, "That's okay, Adrien. No worries."
She turned away without a care in the world, leaving Adrien to stand, anxious and humiliated, in the middle of the deck. Nino appeared and slid an arm round his shoulder. Alya joined them and gestured for Marinette to follow as they made their way off the boat.
"I guess that's my cue," Marinette sighed, downing the rest of her drink. "We're kind of…chaperoning him, tonight. Making sure he has a good time and stuff. It was nice seeing you again."
She and Luka kissed each other on the cheek. Before she stepped away, she found his hand and squeezed it, before her brain caught up to her and she hurried away.
Adrien was scarily quiet after the fiasco on the boat, and the other three hastily decided that the best course of action was to get something to eat. They went to an American-style diner and ordered an assortment of milkshakes and deep-fried food. They ate and sipped their milkshakes in relative silence for a few minutes.
Alya had managed to snag what remained of a bottle of Jägermeister — "Who the fuck brought Jägermeister?" commented Nino — on her way out. As soon as there was space, she topped up her milkshake as discreetly as she could. She made eye contact with Adrien, who had watched her do it from the other side of the booth. There was a beat, and then she passed the bottle over to Adrien. He took it gladly.
"You guys are going to be so sick," said Marinette.
"Actually, I have a digestive system made of steel," said Alya. Adrien set the bottle between himself and Nino once he was done with it and leaned back in his seat, looking out the window.
Nino, Alya and Marinette settled into comfortable conversation, laughing and stealing each others' fries. Alya brought out her phone and began to talk about her blog, throwing out ideas about little changes to the layout or new types of posts to upload. It made Marinette feel very warm, all of a sudden, to be reminded of Alya knowing her identity and the weight that lifted from her shoulders.
It also warmed her to have silly little moments like this, where she could say, "Well, I think Ladybug would most like this sort of coverage—"
—And Alya would boldly insist upon more and more absurd things that Ladybug would believe, and the whole thing was an affectionate charade of her best friend.
Marinette decided to steal Alya's phone where it lay on the table. Alya hastily snatched it back from her and held it out of reach while Marinette tried to no avail to take it back. She was just thinking about tickling Alya, inevitably worsening the scene they were making in the diner booth, but before she could try it out, Adrien said, quite forcefully, "I just—"
All eyes snapped to him. Marinette slid back into her seat and Alya brought her arms down.
Adrien set his empty milkshake cup on the table and nodded once. "I can't live my life in fear."
Nino let out a laugh. He sounded relieved. "Yeah, man, I've been trying to tell you."
"This night is literally gonna go down in history," Alya chipped in as she reached for a chicken wing, "as the night Adrien Agreste became a normal teenage boy."
Adrien laughed. "Yup."
The tension that had been with them since they left the boat was suddenly gone. And then—
"I'm gonna go back to the boat and get that tattoo," Adrien said.
And it was back again. None of the others knew quite how to respond, because none of them knew how to tell him no.
Except— "We're not gonna let you do that," Marinette found herself saying.
Adrien's eyes snapped to hers. Usually so kind, they were now unrestrainedly irritated with her. Petulant, almost. Indignant.
"You're not getting a tattoo," Marinette said.
"Marinette," Adrien complained.
Her heart did a little leap as he said her name. She squashed it. "No. You will one-hundred-percent regret it in the morning."
His eyes narrowed, and she could see his thoughts racing behind his eyes as he tried to come up with a rebuttal. His expression relaxed some, and he leaned back in his seat again. "Ugh, you're right. I know it's a dumb idea."
Marinette found herself feeling wary the same way she would immediately after dispelling a threat. When had that happened? When had the shift to Ladybug Mode she had been trying to engineer all night actually kicked in?
"I just want to do something," Adrien said. "Something that's not what my dad wants from me. I'm sick of feeling like he controls everything in my life."
The other three softened.
"You snuck out," Marinette said.
"Yeah, and you're drinking irresponsibly and illegally," Alya said. "Doesn't that count for something?"
Adrien considered that, and looked down. "Yeah, I guess."
On the bus home — towards the Agreste Mansion, they had decided, although Adrien hadn't exactly voiced his opinion on the matter — Marinette sat on an empty luggage rack, her legs hooked over the handlebars, and made a show of looking at her phone. Really, though, she was keeping an eye on Adrien, who was seated opposite. Nino and Alya were a few rows away, talking in hushed voices and lost in their own world.
She couldn't blame them, not really. She was reminded of earlier, back at Nino's place. Her eyes flicked up from her phone screen and onto Adrien.
She pushed herself off of her perch, caught the railing as she predictably stumbled, and carefully made her way over to the free seat next to Adrien. He glanced at her and smiled. She did the same, quickly returning her gaze to her hands laced in her lap. The minutes went by as she deliberated over what to say to him. Adrien’s silence was a foreign beast but Marinette was surprised to find that it didn’t intimidate her. The onus was on her to fix things, and the weight of that responsibility was a familiar one.
She turned to face him. He was lost in his thoughts, so he didn’t notice or seem to care about her looking at him.
"How come you decided on a Ladybug and Chat Noir tattoo?" she asked quietly.
The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, boyish and unguarded. He tipped his head back and let a grin spread over his face. "I'll tell you someday. I can't explain it now."
Marinette nodded. “I’m sorry this night kind of sucked.”
Adrien’s brows pinched together and he shifted in his seat to face her. “What? No no no. What are you saying? Is this because you feel bad about telling me not to get the tattoo? Because you were right. I was just being stupid.”
“But that’s— I dunno, I sort of want you to be stupid?” She shook her head as he bit back a grin. “No, that came out wrong. I want you to do the things you wanna do, without your… without worrying about the consequences, or what people might think.”
He dropped his gaze and nodded. “Yeah, me too.”
Marinette took a breath. So good, so far.
“Obviously the tattoo thing was too far, though,” she added, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Adrien laughed. “Haha, yeah. But, hey, tonight I learned something about myself.”
He shifted in his seat again, so that his knee was now brushing the side of her leg. “Oh?”
Holding up a finger, he said, “I learned that alcohol makes me get paranoid and do stupid things.”
Marinette snorted. “Yeah, you and the rest of the population. It's, like, a recurring problem that our entire friend group wants to jump in the Seine when we drink at Luka and Juleka's.”
“See, that is something I could do without worrying about the consequences.”
“Oh, shit, should we go back?”
The two looked at each other, then burst out laughing.
Adrien stifled his laughter and held up his hand as he continued his list. “I also learned that I do in fact have the balls to sneak out to go to a party, and—”
He tilted his head to the side and gestured, but no words came out of his mouth. He exhaled and started to smile, then said, very, very carefully, “…I learned that I might be into guys.”
It took a moment for his words to register. “Wait, really?”
“Yeah.”
She was beaming. “Cool.”
Her mind raced through platitudes, all of them inadequate. “You know that I'm—” she began, but words failed her; she didn’t know how to talk to Adrien about her sexuality, she hadn’t ever done it before. Had she done that on purpose? Concealed this part of herself from him because she didn’t want him to be disgusted by her?
When was she not doing that?
“Yeah, I did know that,” Adrien said, his gaze full of admiration for her. “Yeah. I definitely like girls, still, but I'm… I think I have a bit of a crush on…Luka.”
She could file that away along with the rest of it to deal with later. “Are you stealing my man, Adrien Agreste?”
“I might be.” He grinned then, in that endearing and confident way Chat Noir sometimes did.
They sat in comfortable, joyful silence for the rest of the journey.
The four teenagers made it a block away from the Agreste Mansion before any of them asked an exceedingly obvious question.
“Adrien, how are you getting back into your house?” said Nino.
The group slowed to a stop. Adrien didn’t reply for a while; the Jäger had caught up to him.
“I was just gonna go through the window,” he said, watching as their reactions confirmed this was not the right thing to say.
“I mean, I left through the window,” he explained. This was enough to push the others out of their stupor.
“What window?” said Alya.
“More to the point, how are you getting over the wall?” said Marinette.
Adrien had gone bright red and couldn’t help but find their concern amusing. He shrugged exaggeratedly. “I left my bedroom window open.”
His three friends spluttered. “How are you gonna get up there?!” said Nino.
“I’ll…climb…?” Adrien suggested, seeming to realise mid-sentence that it was a ridiculous idea.
He grew more and more flustered as the others bombarded him with questions. After a while, the stupidity of the situation caught up to all of them, and their distress turned to laughter.
“Did you really not think about this before you left?” Nino asked Adrien, grinning.
Adrien gestured wordlessly for a few moments before giving up, apparently deciding there wasn’t an answer he could give that would be satisfactory.
Marinette turned to Alya in a moment of revelation. “Alya, do you still have Ladybug’s number?”
And Alya, still sharp enough to realise Marinette was hinting at something but too tipsy to realise what, just stared at her with wide eyes.
Marinette raised her eyebrows and gave a tiny nod.
“Yes! Yes, I do,” Alya said, nodding her head exaggeratedly.
“Awesome, text her and see if she can get tipsy Adrien to his window.”
Alya’s eyes glinted as she understood and pulled out her phone.
“Since when do you have Ladybug’s number?” Nino asked.
Adrien’s face lit up. “Ladybug?”
“Ladybug is my secret girlfriend, Nino, I’m sorry you had to find out this way. And, yeah, Adrien, we’re getting Ladybug to get you home.”
“Aw, damn, I knew there was something up with you and her. Everybody knows making a blog about someone is rich with homoerotic subtext.”
Adrien said, “Please get Ladybug.”
“We are getting Ladybug,” Marinette assured. Her phone vibrated. She pulled it out of her pocket.
Alya (23:52)
your phone better be on silent
Marinette froze. Her eyes darted up to Alya, whose expression said: Bitch! Marinette widened her eyes right back at her: Why did you actually text me?!
Alya blanched. She offered Marinette an awkward grin. Sorry!
“Oh, shit, that’s my reminder to go home,” Marinette said, tucking her phone away and casting a glance over the boys, who appeared to be oblivious. “I’m almost past curfew.”
She hugged each of them goodbye. As she left, Alya mouthed “Nice” at her over her shoulder. The two shared a low-five before Marinette sped up into a jog.
“This counts, right?” she asked Tikki once she was out of sight and earshot. “This is a heroic cause and not just personal use.”
Tikki just raised an eyebrow. Marinette sighed and transformed anyway, then zipped in a wide circle to avoid suspicion.
She paused on a roof out of view, soaking in the sight of her friends laughing and being silly together. She felt a peculiar sort of envy, wishing she could be down there with them while they waited for a superhero to come and help a tipsy Adrien Agreste.
Alya and Nino noticed her approach. When she landed, Adrien turned, and his face lit up.
"Ladybug!" he cheered, and the other two shushed him.
"I heard you need help getting over the wall?" she said, finding her head swimming a bit. I am Ladybug right now. None of these people are supposed to know I'm Marinette.
"Oh, are we gonna do the yo-yo zipping thing?" said Adrien.
"He's a little bit drunk, so I wouldn't trust him not to let go of you," Alya said helpfully.
"I am standing right here," Adrien complained.
"Yes, cool," said Ladybug. "Thanks, you guys."
"Man, we should get you on call for all our party nights," said Nino.
Ladybug beamed. She held out an arm. Adrien, grinning from ear to ear, slid to her side and laced his fingers over her shoulder.
"This is the best night of my life," he said.
Ladybug's face burned. As Nino and Alya passed her, Alya kissed her two fingers and pointed to the sky.
Ladybug stuck out her tongue. Alya just cackled.
With that, Ladybug picked Adrien up and zipped up to the top of the wall.
Adrien Agreste's bedroom was large and over-the-top and had enough in it to entertain anyone for months. In this way it was like a well-decorated prison, and Ladybug supposed in some ways that was what it was intended to be.
"So, how come you're up this late?" was the first thing Adrien said after they landed. He was bathed in the moonlight coming through the window.
"It's not that late," Ladybug smiled.
Adrien hummed. "What are you doing working this late?"
Something about his words made her think of Chat. She felt herself grin as she said, "A hero's work is never done."
His face lit up. "Agh, too true, M— Ladybug. Too true."
He gazed at her, and Ladybug was struck with the sense that there was a whole world inside this boy she didn't know about.
Adrien placed his hand on her arm and leaned in. He kissed her cheek, and said, "Thank you for getting me home."
It was the cherry on top of a night already filled to the brim with things she didn't have time to process. Grinning deliriously, her face as red as her suit, Ladybug said, "N-no problem," and bade Adrien goodnight.