Chapter Text
The sun was bright, the birds were chirping, and the smell of bread floated around her room. Everything was right in the world.
Marinette jumped out of bed, awake before her alarm for once. She flung herself into the kitchen, singing along wildly to the song on the radio.
“Ooh, see that girl~”, she swung the refrigerator door open to reveal the pre-made dough for the morning croissants. She placed the dough carefully on the counter and turned around to meet her papa putting on the oven mitts.
“Watch that scene~”, her papa continued, smiling wide. “Digging the dancing queen~”
Marinette laughed and started dancing along to the beat, gesturing to her papa to do the same. Her papa rolled his eyes and pointedly looked at the warm pastries inside the oven.
Marinette understood that the bakery was open and customers were probably filling in for the morning rush but she still felt too hyper to head to school early and sit in the empty classroom.
Luckily, she was saved from boredom as her boyfriend walked inside the Dupain-Cheng bakery.
“Adrien!”, her papa exclaimed.
Adrien nervously rubbed his neck, looking at her. “I hope it’s okay that I just came inside. Sabi- I mean mère told me it was okay.”
Marinette giggled, a light tinkling noise Adrien immediately smiled at and dragged him to her.
“C’mon, dance with me!”
And so they danced. Adrien enjoyed dancing with his girlfriend immensely and lost himself in the music.
“You are the dancing queen~”, they sang along to the chorus of the American song, “Young and sweet, only seventeen~”
Adrien twirled Marinette around and dipped her, booping her on the nose with his finger quickly.
They collapsed into a fit of giggles, leaning on each other as they gasped for air.
Adrien stared at Marinette, feeling breathless again. Was this amazing girl really his girlfriend? He was the luckiest guy in the world, even if Ladybug was the one with the ladybug miraculous.
Marinette stood up and dragged Adrien to his feet, instantly making the tips of his ears red. “I need to grab my school stuff but I’ll be back in five minutes. Stay in the couch and wait for me?”
“Sure”, a dazed Adrien replied. He went in for a kiss from her, but she pushed him aside, choosing to instead run upstairs and collect her books. He tried to mask his disappointment, but Tom saw through it anyway and gave him a sympathetic smile.
Upstairs, Tikki sat on Marinette’s desk, munching on a cookie as she watched her holder search for her pens.
“You know, Adrien seems really smitten with you.”
Marinette smiled. “I would hope so, he is my boyfriend.”
Marinette found her elusive red pen and stuffed it in her pencil pouch.
“But Marinette, do you have feelings for him other than sisterly affection?”, Tikki flew in front of her face.
“Of course I do, Tikki. He’s my boyfriend, not my brother”, Marinette replied carelessly, busy putting on her socks.
“He looks at you as if every time you blush or laugh or literally just exist, he is falling in love all over again.” Tikki sighed softly. “Please be careful with his heart, Marinette. It’s been through a lot. I know you are very kind but you might not even realize what effect you have on him.”
Marinette pondered the thought a bit. Tikki had to be wrong. Adrien was a drop-dead gorgeous model with a sweet smile and charming personality. Basically every girl in Paris would kill to be in her position. Of course she understood the value of her relationship with him. Even disregarding the famous model portion, he was one of her best friends. She would never hurt him.
Adrien tackled her as soon as she stepped foot downstairs and stole her backpack from her, despite her protests.
“I can carry it myself!”, she pouted.
“But a princess shouldn’t have to!”
Marinette sighed and shook her head fondly. “C’mon, we can’t be late.”
Marinette’s papa handed each of them a pain au chocolat as they headed out. Adrien quickly finished his but Marinette was still chewing on hers when they arrived at their school.
“Adrikins~”, Chloe trilled. “There you are! I have to tell you about this new lip gloss I found! It was such a pain to find but-“
Chloe glanced at Adrien’s hand in Marinette's and went quiet, her eyes widening and eyebrows raised high.
“Hey, Chloe! Uh, I actually wanted to tell you something.”
Marinette finished her pain au chocolat and reflected thoughtfully at the crumbs in her hands. It was only 8 in the morning. Maybe she could grab another pastry before school started. She was startled when Adrien squeezed her hand and stepped forward.
“I’m actually dating Marinette now. I wanted you to hear from me before anyone else”, Adrien spoke.
“You’re lying. There’s no way you and Marinette are dating!”, Chloe whispered.
Chloe looked at Sabrina for assurance, to tell her she was right. But Sabrina was busy congratulating the couple. Chloe blinked away tears and ran into the building. She locked herself in a bathroom stall and slowly sobbed.
“They’re not dating. They’re not dating. They’re not dating”, Chloe repeated again and again, hoping that if she said it enough, it would be true.
A black butterfly flew through the window and approached Chloe. Chloe was too busy rubbing the tears from her eyes to notice until it was too late. The butterfly phased through the silver bead on her necklace.
“Chloe Bourgeois, I am Hawkmoth! I sense feelings of jealousy and hm…betrayal?” Hawk Moth monologued.
“You’re wrong! Marinette and Adrien aren’t dating, so I am not feeling anything !”
“But they could be. You don’t want to lose Adrien to that baker girl, do you? Your ehm Adrikins deserves better than that!”
“Shut up! They don’t like each other!”
“Of course you’re right, Miss Bourgeois. Adrien doesn’t like Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I’m giving you the power to reveal the perfect match for a person! All I ask in exchange is Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous. Do we have a deal, Unvieler?”
“Yes, Hawkmoth”, Chloe smiled. With this power, she would finally be able to reveal who Marinette truly belonged with.
Her yellow outfit dissolved in purple bubbles to reveal a white dress darkening to a pink tone from the top down. Her jacket was a muted pink-orange. Her face had fallen loose out of its incredibly tight high ponytail into a looser bun settling at the nape of her neck. Light pink streaks went through her hair, fading as they went down. Her necklace, once simple with a small silver ball hung onto the chain, was transformed into a gold chain with a little heart bead settling itself in the jugular notch in the middle of her neck.
“I’ll make sure everyone knows who their partner really deserves! Especially Adrien! Marinette is far too good for him!”
Hawkmoth paled. Chloe..didn’t like Adrien? Did he just release a jealous Chloe looking to hurt Adrien rather than the baker girl?
He sighed. Even if Adrien did happen to get hurt, it was just collateral damage. The miraculi of Ladybug and Chat Noir would wish everything away in the end. He was perhaps more worried about Chloe Bourgeois. At least it would be easier to beat Audrey this year during the Paris Fashion week. The news that her daughter was a queer would definitely hurt the Style Queen brand. Gabriel felt sick thinking about how Chloe was one of those queer people. It was just so unexpected! There was no way he could support Andre this year, even if supporting him gave tax benefits.
By tax benefits, he meant that Andre helped him with tax evasion because they were filthy rich douchebags, but that's not important.
“Hawkmoth!”, Chloe screeched.
“Y-Yes, Unvieler?”, Hawkmoth gritted out. He would have to interact with this gay for his wife.
“How do I use my power?”
“Just tap your necklace’s bead and touch the person you want to be affected.”
Unveiler smirked. She would finally get her lady love to notice her.
FLASHBACK
“B-But Madame Gray! Why do we have to sit apart?”, a young Chloe cried out to her teacher.
“I cannot have any impure ideas getting in your head! You’re too young to be thinking such vulgar things!”, Madame Gray looked at Chloe, visibly disgusted.
“What does vulgar mean?”, Chloe stomped.
“It means disgusting!”
“Is it truly disgusting for me to want to marry Chloe, Madame Gray?”, Marinette looked on at the older teacher, heartbreak in her eyes.
“Yes it is!”
“Well then, I hate Chloe! A normal amount! B-Because I don’t like girls at all!”
Chloe released a quiet sob. Marinette was her only real friend at this new, unfamiliar school and even she hated her now. Maybe she really was disgusting trash, like her mom said.
FLASHBACK ENDS
Unveiler shook her head, clearing her mind of that terrible memory. She escaped the bathroom through the window and climbed down the ledge to reach the ground. Thankfully, she had climbed out through the first-floor window and it only took a jump to get down. She quickly scanned the area, spotting Alya conversing with Adrien and Marinette.
“Marinetteee!”, Unveiler sang, making her way toward the ravenette.
“C-Chloe? Were you akumatized?”, Marinette stuttered.
“It’s Unveiler now!”
Alya scoffed. “Why am I even surprised? You are the sole reason the Ladyblog is still used. Are you actually working with Hawkmoth at this point?”
“Shut up! Let’s see what poor soul got matched with you , Alya!”, Chloe screamed.
Chloe touched her bead and with lightning-fast speed, hit Alya’s arm. The touch forced a projection in front of everyone. A scene lit up, featuring Nino in the car with his dad and brother waiting at a traffic light.
“Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Well, even if your boyfriend is your actual soul partner, I’m sure that’s not the case with Marinette and Adrien!”, Unveiler said.
Adrien confidently raised his chin. “We’ll see about that. Marinette and I are an amazing team and you can’t convince me otherwise!”
Marinette sweated. “Uh Adrien, maybe don’t convince the Akuma to hit us?”
Unveiler smirked. “We’ll see about that!”
She tapped her bead again and approached Marinette. Marinette tried to run away, only to fail when Unveiler quickly grabbed her purse and accidently forced the young designer to fall onto her. Unveiler inhaled the faint scents of bread in Marinette’s hair right before the smaller girl quickly pushed them apart. A screen appeared in front of Marinette again, and Chloe looked on hopefully when she saw the back of a blonde head. A blonde head meant that Marinette could possibly be matched with her!
“Look at that, I knew Marinette and I were made for each other!”, Adrien grinned.
Unveiler frowned. The projection only showed the top of a blonde head, which meant that either she or Adrien could be Marinette’s true match.
Only, the head turned to display a pale face attached to long blonde hair. The girl had an uncanny resemblance to Chloe, twinning with her sharp features and high cheekbones almost too well, though Chloe definitely had a sharper nose. The main difference might have been the dark, pointed mask hiding her eyes. Marinette swallowed when the mystery girl twirled a lock of blonde hair around her finger and pouted. Marinette’s eyes assigned themselves inappropriately at her plush pink lips. Marinette subconsciously licked her lips, eliciting Adrien to let out a small gasp in shock or maybe realization. The girl shouted to someone out of the scene and stood up off the ground. A costume-clad body rose up with a recognizable bat emblem on her chest. Behind her, Marinette noticed a building with a labeled sign stating ‘Wayne Tower’.
“I’m so confused, does Chloe-I mean Unveiler’s powers show your romantic match or your platonic match? And correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s batgirl .”, Alya asked, holding out her camera.
No doubt the Ladyblogger was live streaming.
Unveiler stayed scarily quiet, prompting the Ladyblogger to more confusion.
The scene flashed away the next second, leaving Unveiler in near tears and the rest of the school starting agape in shock. Sure, Unveiler felt terrible that Marinette’s true match wasn’t her, but it felt worse to know that her match looked just so much like her.
Adrien took advantage of Unveiler’s fragile state to grab her necklace and crack it open. A black butterfly flew out.
Marinette stood still, unable to move. Tikki moved inside the purse, signaling her holder to purify the akuma. Marinette finally gained her bearings and looked at her boyfriend. Adrien stood in front of her, eyes bloodshot and hands clenched. Marinette wanted badly to comfort him but Ladybug had to catch the akuma.
“I-uh I’ll just go-“, she quickly hurried out of view and hid behind a nearby tree. Marinette opened up her purse and Tikki flew out, a worried expression clear on her face.
“Talk later, akuma first!”, Marinette quickly spoke.
“Tikki, spots on!”
Ladybug followed the path the akuma last ventured out to and scanned the area for the dark butterfly. Once found, it was quickly purified and sent out of her yo-yo. Ladybug didn’t really feel a need to use the Miraculous Ladybug to fix any damage, mostly because there had been none. With no time limit, she was left with a choice. Either go back to the school and face many, many questions and probably a breakup, or stay transformed as Ladybug and travel around the city (possibly stopping for ice cream??).
She chose the second one, obviously.
While licking her ice cream cone, she reflected on Andre the ice cream man’s description for her ice cream.
“Raspberry sorbet for the dark past that pollutes them as well as the secrets they have, Honeysuckle for her hair and the complicated love you two will bear through, and Carmel drizzled on top for her sweet personality”, Andre had said. The man had the audacity to smile at her!
Ladybug was feeling conflicted. She had a boyfriend! There was no reason for Andre to have used the pronoun her when giving her the ice cream! But she recalled Tikki’s words in the morning. Ladybug did enjoy Adrien’s company but ultimately, could not match the feelings he had for her. There was a reason why. In fact, it was one of the biggest secrets she possessed.
FLASHBACK
“We’re going to be just like maman and papa! Except we’re going to get a hamster and have three children named Emma, Louis, and Hugo!”, an excited 7-year-old Marinette babbled to Chloé.
“But I don’t want any boys!”, Chloe pouted.
“But Chloee, I’ve always wanted a brother! Everyone does!”, Marinette whined. “Besides, maman said she thought I was going to be a boy right up until I was born. There isn’t much of a choice”
Chloe shrugged. “I don’t care anymore. I just want to be with you forever!”
Marinette smiled. She was so excited to tell her maman about Chloe! Her maman and papa always wanted for her to find her own love! She couldn’t wait to tell them about Chloe. They would definitely love her! Maybe after they met, they could adopt Chloe too! Chloe’s own parents seemed so mean and Madame Gray had always said sharing was caring. But if Chloe was adopted, wouldn’t that make her Marinette’s sister? But Marinette didn’t want to marry her sister!
Marinette scowled, thinking about this terribly inconvenient problem. While deep in thought, she didn’t notice Kim walking towards her, a rose in hand.
“M-Marinette? I-I wanted to tell you something”, Kim stuttered.
Marinette stared at the rose. “Kim, why are you giving me a rose? Roses are for girlfriends and boyfriends.”
Marinette pitied Kim. Maybe he just didn’t realize that he took a red rose. He was a bit careless sometimes.
Kim moved forward and grabbed her arm, putting the rose into her hand. “I know.”
Madame Gray came outside and cooed at the scene, making Marinette more uneasy.
“Kim, I really don’t think you know what you're talking about.”
Kim scowled. “I like you, Nette! Just say you love me back and we’ll be boyfriend and girlfriend!”
“Hey! She’s my girlfriend!”, Chloe shrieked.
“What? No, she’s not! Girls don’t like girls!”, Kim argued.
Madame Gray frowned. “Chloe, he's right. Girls don’t like girls. You’re too young to understand what you’re talking about.”
“No, I’m not! I love Marinette and she loves me! Right, Mari?”
“I-I don’t know…”, Marinette whispered. Her arms closed in around herself. Madame Gray was her favorite teacher ever, so she couldn’t possibly be wrong, could she? Chloe and her were just kids but their teacher was an adult so she must know better.
Chloe’s eyes watered. “W-What? You…But I thought we were getting married!”
Sabrina, one of their friends from another class, giggled. “Chloe, stop being silly. Boys marry girls. Girls don’t marry girls. Have you ever seen a movie where a bride married a bride? That’s just gross!”
“No! You’re wrong! Marinette and I love each other!”
Kim moved in front of Marinette. “Don’t worry Marinette! As your boyfriend, I’ll make sure this evil witch's lies can’t get to you!”
Marinette looked at the ground in shame. She could feel Chloe’s eyes burning a hole into her head and she could definitely hear the blonde’s indignation at Kim’s remarks but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Marinette despised conflict and both Chloe and Kim were her best friends.
“That’s enough out of all of you!”, Madame Gray reprimanded. “Recess is over!”
All of the students groaned and shot Chloe and Kim dirty looks for cutting their break time short.
“Marinette, Chloé, I want to talk with you both before school is over”, Madame Gray called out.
Marinette's head shot up just to see Chloe giving her a mixed look between confusion and a kind of anger. Marinette jolted when she realized it was betrayal that Chloe was feeling. She scurried past Chloe to go back inside the building. Marinette secretly felt like a coward and regretted everything she hadn’t said, but she didn’t raise her voice.
“Your maman and papa will be very disappointed in you, Marinette”, Madame Gray frowned.
FLASHBACK ENDS
There were many parts of her identity that Marinette hid on a regular daily basis. Many
secrets
she had to hide for various reasons. There wasn’t anybody she could completely be honest with. Not Tikki, who still had no idea Marinette might
definitely
like girls, and not her parents, who were perhaps the least informed about both her sexual orientation
and
her role as Ladybug.
But across the world, a blonde-haired vigilante with the prettiest pout Marinette had seen was declared as Marinette’s ‘match’. As someone that, hypothetically, she could share anything with. Perhaps a trip to Gotham was in consideration. Purely for superhero business, of course.