Chapter Text
Marinette doesn’t know when it started, this thing they have.
He visits her on the rooftop, and she invites him inside with the promise of leftover pastries from the day. There’s no pattern to his visits, but there is routine. Marinette never knows when Chat will visit, but when he does she is always prepared. She knows that she shouldn’t be doing this. That falling in love with Chat is dangerous . Marinette knows this, but she does it anyway, because falling in love with him is so much easier than falling out of it. Not that she’s tried.
The point is, Chat hasn’t visited in a full week , and as silly as it sounds (because she sees him as Ladybug nearly everyday), Marinette is worried about him. They don’t know each other’s identities, but Marinette is sure that she would fall in love with him behind the mask regardless.
There’s a small tap at her window, and Marinette smiles to herself.
He’s here.
The tapping continues, and Marinette rolls her eyes as she lets the leather-clad boy in, huffing as she shuts the window. “Where have you been , you stupid cat?” She says quietly, no real heat in her voice. She takes a moment to look him over, silently analyzing any injuries that she knows he has because she was there when they happened. It’s close to midnight, but she can’t find it in herself to be upset once she sees the blood dripping down his cheek.
“Chat?” Marinette says softly, hands hovering over his face, waiting for silent permission. The cat sighs, tilting his head to lean into the palms of her hands. She traces over his features with her thumbs, mentally storing away the warmth of his cheeks and his perfectly green eyes. She knows his face well, but Marinette has never seen him like this. “Kitty?” She murmurs, carefully avoiding touching the cut on his cheek, “What happened?” She asks softly, tilting his chin to look at her.
He avoids her gaze, frowning slightly. After a brief moment, he begins to murmur under his breath.
“Words, kitty.” Marinette chides softly, thumbing over his (non-damaged) cheek. He flushes a baby pink colour, eyes shifting around before finally giving in and settling on her own blue ones. “Civilian stuff,” He murmurs, “nothing you need to worry about, Princess.” He says, lips twitching into a sort-of smile.
Marinette raises an eyebrow, before getting up to find her first aid kit. She shuffles through it mindlessly, the cut wasn’t too deep, and was mostly just a superficial injury which Marinette was thankful for. “You can talk to me, Chat” She murmurs seriously, pulling up a chair beside him. She sits him down, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “My room is always open, y’know,” Marinette says softly, leaning her forehead against his as she closes her eyes. “You really worried me,” She murmurs. Chat frowns, opening his mouth in a rush to apologise, but she shushes him with a moment of eye contact.
“Chat, I’m gonna ask you something, and I want you to answer as honestly as you can, okay?” Marinette says, brushing the blonde hair out of his face as she caresses his cheek. Chat only nods, eyes glassy and breath heavy.
“You said it was something in your civilian life?” She murmurs, waiting for confirmation from the superhero. When he nods, she frowns lightly, “Is it at home? Or school?” Marinette trails off, brushing her thumb over his cheekbone. “Who’s hurting you, kitty?” She says finally, looking at his eyes.
Marinette can feel the moment that Chat Noir processes what she says. It was subtle enough that if she wasn’t Ladybug and didn’t spend so much time around her kitty, she wouldn’t have noticed. But she does, bringing a hand down to grab one of his own, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles and massaging his palm as best as she can with her freehand. Her other hand is still on Chat’s face, holding him gently.
Chat Noir opens his mouth, furrowing his eyebrows as he goes to speak, but nothing comes out. “Deep breaths, kitty,” Marinette reminds him gently, “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But I want to make sure that you’re safe.” She murmurs into his hair, dropping a kiss on his forehead.
As his breath evens out, Chat’s eyes flutter close. “It’s um-” He breathes out, “It’s my father.” he says finally. Marinette’s eyes darken at his admission, but she remains silent and rubs her thumb over his knuckles gently. “He’s not exactly the most… attentive parent.” He murmurs, squeezing his eyes shut.
“I can’t even talk to him without setting up a meeting first. A meeting, Mari! What kind of father makes his son book an appointment to ask if they can have dinner together?” He says, frustration clear in his tone. “Half the time I only see him through a screen, even though he lives in the same house as me. I wasn’t allowed to attend school until his assistant practically forced him to let me! Nat-She’s more of a parent to me than my own father. He doesn’t even want to look at me. I look exactly like my mother, and he is terrified of that! He can’t stand to look at me because everytime he does, he remembers his dead wife and not his son!”
By the time Chat’s rant is over, there are quiet tears falling from his eyes. Marinette wipes them away with her thumb, sighing sympathetically. “You remind me of a friend of mine,” Marinette says after a moment, “from school, his name is Adrien. You two are actually pretty similar, now that I think about it…” Marinette trails off, looking at Chat’s eyes as the realisation sets in. All of her movements stop, but her hand is still holding Chat’s face firmly.
“Adrien?”
She gasps softly, connecting the similarities from her interactions with both (is it still both if they’re the same person?) boys. Chat’s eyes widen at her words, but Marinette keeps talking, “Oh my god, it all makes sense now. You- oh my god, Adrien! Are you okay, is your dad- do you-” Marinette stumbles over her words, panic setting in as she realises that everything that Chat’s dealing with, the reason he’s in her room in the first place, is happening to Adrien too. His father… Marinette takes a deep breath, looking up at Adrien for the first time since her realisation.
“Ladybug is going to kill me,” Chat mumbles as he breaks eye contact.
Marinette laughs softly, wiping the tears from his face gently.
“Kitty, I’m Ladybug.”