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Pierre was having an off day.
First, he stubbed his toe getting out of bed this morning after he had overslept and missed an hour of work.
Then, he found out he was out of his favorite cereal which he could’ve sworn he just restocked.
And finally, his girlfriend, Marie, after 1 year of dating started dropping hints that she never wanted to get married on their date last night. It was needless to say why he overslept.
But the most “off” thing about today wasn’t any of those things.
No, they were all pretty mundane circumstances compared to what he saw at the train station on his way to a boring office job where he was probably so fired.
And apparently, he wasn’t the only one stopping to gawk at the scene, they had attracted quite the crowd. Not that the couple noticed. Not just any couple either.
Ladybug and Chat Noir. The saviors of Paris.
Now, Pierre wasn’t one to get caught up in the superhero drama that Marie seemed to be so interested in. He didn’t care whether the heroes of Paris were a couple or not. Pierre always thought it was best to mind his own business. Although, it was hard not to be in their business when they were broadcasting it to the city.
“I’m not human?” Chat Noir’s voice breaks at the unimaginable words coming out of Ladybug’s mouth. They’re standing on the train platform, he’s clutching his bags, tears pooling in his eyes.
The crowd gasped in shock. Pierre was definitely going to be fired.
Ladybug pleads, “I’m sorry, Chat! I didn’t know how to tell you everything.”
Chat Noir shakes his head, furious. “How could you…keep something like this from me? I thought we were closer than that!”
How could Ladybug know Chat Noir’s…species? And not him?
Ladybug releases a shaky breath. “You’re the most important person in the world to me and I couldn’t bear the thought of you knowing something so world-changing that I couldn’t imagine being the person to ruin everything you know to be true.”
Chat Noir seems confused. “Then why tell me now?”
Ladybug shifts her feet and looks down at the ground. “Well, you’re leaving. And it feels like a goodbye. For good this time.”
The crowd is murmuring in distress at the thought of the famous cat leaving forever.
Chat Noir starts to pace the train platform in frustration. “I just feel like we’ve been here before. All those times you made secret plans with Alya behind my back when I’m supposed to be your partner. And now! You’re doing the exact same thing. Lying to me. I’m just sick of it! I’m tired of always being in the dark.”
Ladybug is crying at this point as well. “Wait, so you knew then? This whole time?”
Pierre and everyone else was hanging onto their every word at this point.
“I knew you were distancing yourself because of a secret you have. You’ve always been a terrible liar, Ladybug. Especially with me. I just need some time alone. All my life, my family has kept secrets from me, and finding out they never told their son he’s not even human is just one example. I can’t live like that with you too. Not anymore.”
Ladybug sobs. “But Chat, I love you!” The crowd is speechless.
Chat Noir releases a breath he had been holding.
“I love you too but…that was the reason I felt my father didn’t love me. Besides the obvious damage, he’s done to Paris. When he didn’t tell me that my mother was being kept like some sort of experiment! He kept her body! I mean what kind of father keeps something like that from their son? That’s not love.”
Chat Noir’s father is…? It couldn’t be. Not to mention the mother being a science experiment thing? Was this guy’s life even real ? He definitely belonged on a soap opera.
Everyone was looking at each other in disbelief. At this point, Pierre doesn’t care about being fired. This was crazy . Hawkmoth was Gabriel Agreste which means…
“Oh, my God ! I knew Chat Noir was too hot! There was no else he could be!”
“Who cares about that ? This is the most Ladynoir content we’ve ever gotten!”
Pierre winced as a bunch of girls around him lost their minds at the revelation of their favorite supermodel also being their favorite hero. And the relationship drama. Oh, God, the relationship drama.
Poor guy was never going to escape these fangirls, in or out of the mask. Maybe it was for the best that he was leaving.
Ladybug takes his hand in desperation. “But Chat, I’m not your father, that’s why I told you these things!”
“But why after 4 years of increasing distance?! I just can’t take it anymore!”
Ladybug seems at a loss for words, acknowledging what she has done. And let's go of Chat Noir’s ( Adrien Agreste’s?!) hand. Chat Noir is staring at his empty hand as if that’s the worst thing he’s ever felt, despite the supposed terrible family secrets.
Ladybug takes one last longing glance at Chat Noir and walks away. Chat Noir hesitantly goes to get on the train headed for London and looks back at her longingly, oblivious to the crowd moved by the scene. He seems to have an epiphany and says to her back.
“Wait.”
Pierre held his breath.
Ladybug looks back at him, shocked. He hesitantly walks toward her.
“I just realized that us being apart is the worst thing I could feel, not my messed up family secrets or even you lying to me. I still need you in my life. You just… can’t keep lying to me. I need time to process this. I still want a break but I want you to know that I love you more than anything in the world. I just need us to be in a place where we don’t keep secrets from each other.”
The crowd is in tears and Pierre would be lying if he said he wasn’t tearing up as well.
Ladybug cries, “I’ll never do this to you again, I swear.”
“I don’t know if I can believe that yet. But what I do know is that I love you too much to give up on us. If we can build that trust again, I know we’ll be okay.”
They kiss with sorrow but also hope for a better future, their foreheads resting against each other.
The crowd is going absolutely wild at this display, and that’s when the heroes finally notice they have an audience.
Ladybug flushes from head to toe and buries her face into Chat Noir’s chest. He chuckles and kisses the top of her head.
“Alright, show’s over. Nothing else to see here. I know you must have questions, but that can wait until later. We need our privacy now.”
Pierre was shocked that Adrien Agreste was capable of such sternness. The crowd, however, respected their heroes too much to pry further so they finally dispersed.
Except Pierre who stayed rooted in his spot, watching the couple continue to embrace.
“You do realize we just revealed your family drama and secret identity to the world right?”
Pierre watches as Adrien Agreste just smiles and says, “That will be easy to handle with you by my side, my lady.”
Ladybug smiles a smile against his chest that no one, not even Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir was meant to see.
Pierre was now 3 hours late to work and he did not care one bit. Seeing love like that in the world made him realize that all the off days were worth it if he got to have something like that. As he continued to process what he just witnessed, his phone buzzed. A text from Marie.
Pierre, I’m so sorry if I gave you the wrong impression yesterday. I guess I was just scared for the future. I do know that marrying you would be the best decision I ever make despite my fears because that would mean I would get to be with you forever. Can we discuss this more when we get home? I love you.
Pierre smiled, and he knew he wouldn’t be going to work today.
He had a girl to surprise.
(Pierre actually wasn’t fired because his boss heard he was stuck in what he called “crowd mania” from the Ladynoir drama/Adrien Agreste identity reveal. Go figure.)