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The room was crowded already, even though it was early. Chloé stood near the east side of the ballroom and scanned the crowds, hoping against hope that she would a) find someone she knew, and b) find someone who would be happy to see her. The latter was far more unlikely than the former, unfortunately. She had the sneaking suspicion that this party would be just like all the other parties the mayor threw lately, which meant there was nothing for her here.
"How rude would it be for one of the mayor's daughters to sneak away before midnight?" she wondered out loud to herself.
But of course, that was a dumb question.
The real question was, would anyone even notice her absence? And the real answer was: probably not. At midnight, the mayor would be making his typical speech about the new year, he and his wife and his stepdaughter would smile happily for the cameras, and Chloé would still be over here in the corner with no one the wiser. It would be better for her own sanity if she wasn't around at that point, honestly.
It was still early, a couple hours until midnight. She could order some take out. Paint her nails. Maybe take a hot bath. That sounded much better than hanging around here. Chloé turned on her heel to make a quiet but, in her opinion, dignified retreat, when she saw him.
Adrien Agreste.
Chloé paused in surprise, staring at him. It had been a while since she'd seen Adrien. He hadn't been at school too much lately. And honestly, he didn't look happy to be here tonight either. He was hovering near the wall much like Chloé herself, well out of sight of the cameras walking around. In a moment where no one was watching him, Adrien looked tired. Tired and sad. It made her heart twist.
Before she could stop herself, Chloé was making her way through the crowd towards him. A few steps away, she said, "Hi Adrien."
Adrien jumped, looking up in alarm. His expression melded into surprise when he saw her, and was that a hint of relief? He said, "Hi Chloé."
"How are you?" Chloé asked, then wanted to kick herself for such a lame question. Now that they were closer, she mentally revised her assessment of Adrien to be tired and sad and thin. Even the tailored suit he was wearing looked a little loose.
Adrien hesitated, then gave a brief smile. "Okay. Great party."
"Yeah, I guess." Chloé looked around with disinterest. The ballroom was fully decorated, of course. There was tons of great food. The band was talented. But it was still just another party.
"You're not having fun?" Adrien asked, and she shrugged.
"It's okay."
Adrien gave her a thoughtful look, then shrugged too. "Yeah, okay about sums it up," he agreed. "You look pretty, though. I like your dress."
Chloé, despite herself, blushed at the compliment. "Thanks," she said shyly, smoothing her hand down the front of her dark blue gown. "You look really nice too. Hey, I just realized - we match." She pointed to Adrien's dark blue tie.
"Oh yeah, I guess we do," Adrien said with another, truer smile. "I was supposed to be wearing red, but I decided against it. Don't tell my dad."
"I won't," Chloé said, wondering why he'd decided against it. Adrien looked amazing in bright colors like that, and the red tie would've been both festive and brightened up the dark grey suit he was wearing. But the dark blue tie looked good too, she thought. The darker coloring made his green eyes stand out, almost glowing in the bright lights.
"You wanna - " Adrien hesitated again.
"Do I wanna?" she probed.
"It's hot in here. Do you wanna step out on the balcony?"
"Sure," Chloé said, a little amazed, but too grateful at her good fortune to question him. She and Adrien rarely talked now. She had finally caught on to the fact that Adrien didn't really want anything to do with her now, and she'd been trying for months now to give him the space he couldn't ask for.
"After you, then." Adrien bowed gallantly and held his hand out. Chloé couldn't help a snort and he grinned.
Because it was a cold night, the balconies weren't heavily occupied. Chloé shivered a bit as she stepped outside and walked over to the railing. There was frost on the railing, she noted, and then lifted her eyes to gaze out over the city. Paris stretched out before them, beautifully lit up by festive, twinkling lights. The sky above was surprisingly clear, which would work well for the fireworks she knew whatever company the mayor had hired would be setting off at midnight.
Adrien leaned against the railing and sighed. "That's better. There was a lot of people in there."
"You can't expect anything less from the mayor's New Years Eve party," Chloé said, loosely wrapping her arms around herself. Her dress had long sleeves, but they felt inadequate against the chilly night air.
"Yep, gotta keep up appearances," Adrien said. The cold didn't seem to bother him, she noticed.
"Can I ask you a question?" she asked, half-expecting him to brush her off. Surprisingly, he didn’t.
"Sure, go ahead."
"When I first saw you tonight, you looked kind of sad," Chloé said, watching him out of the corner of her eye.
"That's not a question," Adrien said lightly, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. "It's nothing. It's silly."
"Nothing you do is silly to me," Chloé said softly.
Adrien was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "A couple months ago, I told the girl that I was in love with how I felt. I mean, I really told her. She already knew, sort of. I'd asked her out before and she turned me down every time. But I just - I needed to say it to her, you know? I just needed to say it."
Chloé didn't say anything. She could hear the pain in Adrien's voice, and she ached for him. Adrien loved so easily. He got that from his mother. But despite how easily earned his love was, it ran deep. He wasn't fickle. He loved fiercely, with his whole heart. It must have cut him deep to love someone like this when that someone didn't love him back. And it hurt too, hearing that he loved someone else so much, but she tried not to focus on that.
"Well, to cut a long story short, it didn't go well," Adrien said, drawing himself up straight. He sounded bitter now. "She told me to my face that she would never love me the way I loved her. She said she needed me to get over it already."
"That's so rude," Chloé burst out, indignant on Adrien's behalf.
Adrien sighed again. "She wasn't wrong though. I do need to get over it." He ran a hand through his hair. "She told me - she said that she's in love with someone else, and that she's committed to whoever it is."
"Oh, Adrien," Chloé said, turning towards him. She bit her lip when she saw the brightness in his eyes.
"I shouldn't have done it. I knew how she felt. It was stupid," Adrien said. "I just hoped..." He trailed off.
"I'm sorry," Chloé said. She didn't understand how anyone could turn Adrien down. He was everything that Chloé had ever wanted, right there in a dark grey suit, dark blue tie, and messy hair that was now falling over his eyes in spite of the hair gel's best efforts.
"It's my own fault. And you know, she was right. I do need to get over it already," Adrien said. "That's my New Years resolution, I think. I'm going to finish getting over her and move on."
Chloé watched him for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "That sounds like it would be best," she said, wondering who this girl was.
Marinette? She was the most likely culprit, yet at the same time that seemed unlikely. Everyone knew that Marinette was passionately in love with Adrien, and that Adrien had absolutely no idea. If Adrien had confessed to Marinette, all of Paris would know just because Marinette wouldn't be able to keep her hysterical screaming to herself. There was no way that Marinette would ever turn Adrien down.
It couldn't be Alya. Adrien would never do that to Nino. And Chloé doubted that it was any of the other girls in their class. It definitely couldn't be Lila. Much like Marinette, Lila would never turn Adrien down. So it was probably someone from Adrien's job, she surmised. Maybe a fellow model who would be uniquely positioned to understand Adrien's busy life. Or maybe one of the staff members who helped out with photography, make-up, lighting, or hair? The possibilities were endless.
"Who was it?" she asked finally, because the question would drive her crazy otherwise, and Adrien let out a little laugh.
"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said.
"Try me," Chloé said as a cool breeze blew. She couldn't help shivering. Adrien's expression instantly melted into concern.
"You're freezing!" he exclaimed. "Geez, Chlo, you should've said something." He quickly unbuttoned his suit jacket and slipped it off, leaving him in just a white shirt and tie. Before Chloé could protest, he wrapped the jacket around her.
"Adrien, you'll be cold," she protested weakly, snuggling into the jacket. It was deliciously warm from Adrien's body heat, and it smelled like his cologne.
"Nah. I run hot," Adrien said, smiling like it was a private joke. "I'll be fine. I didn't even realize how cold it was out here. Do you want to go back in?"
Chloé shook her head. She was enjoying this time with Adrien, even if they were talking about his lost love, and she felt like if they went inside, it would break the spell that had fallen over them. There were too many distractions inside; Adrien would find something better to occupy his time, and then he wouldn't want to talk to her anymore. She wanted to savor the time she had with him while she had it.
"Alright. Let me know if you change your mind," Adrien said. "Anyway... it was - " He paused, looking self-conscious. "Don't laugh at me, okay? It was Ladybug."
"Oh Adrien," Chloé said for a second time, this time in dismay. Adrien's Ladybug obsession wasn't a secret unless you were Gabriel Agreste. But she wouldn't have guessed that Adrien would actually confess to Ladybug.
"I know. Stupid, right?" Adrien shook his head.
"No, not stupid," Chloé said, though she knew she didn't sound very convincing. Ladybug was something of a sore spot with her. She had never been able to understand why Ladybug hated her so much, to the point where Ladybug wouldn't even give Queen Bee a chance. Seeing Ladybug choose another Bee holder had pretty much cemented Chloé's bitterness and anger towards Paris's most beloved superhero.
But this? This was on a whole other level altogether. This was just stupid. How could Ladybug turn down Adrien?
"Yeah, it is. It's fine, you can say it," Adrien said.
Chloé shook her head and said instead, "I didn't know you knew Ladybug.”
"She's saved me a few times. One time she came to my place during an akuma attack," Adrien said. "It just sort of spiralled. We hang out. Or... we hung out, I guess. I haven't seen her since then. I wasn't ready, and I don't think she is either."
Chloé was quiet for a moment, struggling with her anger. She very much wanted to march around Paris until she found Ladybug and could demand an explanation as to how Ladybug could be so callous. But she couldn't, obviously. For one thing, Adrien probably wouldn't appreciate it. And for another, she doubted that Ladybug would give a shit about anything that Chloé Bourgeois had to say.
"You weren't stupid," Chloé said finally, when she could talk without sounding too mad. "I think that was brave."
"Brave?" Adrien's eyebrows shot up.
"Yes. Very brave, in fact. Confessing to someone like that must have been hard," Chloé said.
"It should have been easy," Adrien said, a bit sadly. "We both made it hard. Harder than it should've been, anyway."
"She was cruel," Chloé said, which was as close as she'd let herself get to sharing how she truly felt about Ladybug now. Chloé might have idolized Ladybug to begin with, but those feelings had long since faded. However she suspected that Adrien didn’t need to hear that right now, or maybe ever.
"I don't think - " Adrien began, but Chloé cut him off.
"You didn't deserve that, Adrien," she said, a touch aggressively. "I'm sorry that it happened the way it did."
Adrien paused, frowning slightly, then nodded slowly. "Thank you. I do appreciate that, even if it's more complicated than I can explain. And I really am fine. I was moving on. It's just - tonight, you know? It kind of hit me hard and I didn't expect it to. It's New Years Eve. I saw someone wearing a red dress. It's dumb."
"I get it," Chloé said. She wondered if someday Adrien would ever share the real story with her. It seemed there was a lot being left unsaid right now. But if he wasn't comfortable sharing it, she wasn't going to press. It was amazing that he had shared this much.
"And then you came over," he continued. "And suddenly, my night got a whole lot better." He grinned suddenly. "I forgot that you could do that."
"Do what?" Chloé asked, a bit breathless from the force of that grin.
"Make me feel better like that." Adrien snapped his fingers. "No matter what the problem was, you always knew how to make me smile. I forgot about that."
Chloé looked away, a little embarrassed. "Well, in your defence, for a long time there, I forgot how to make anyone smile," she muttered. "I've been working on changing that. Or working on trying to change it, at least."
"I can tell," Adrien said. "You've changed..."
"In a good way?" Chloé asked, not daring to look at him. His answer could easily crush her. She wondered if he knew that.
Adrien paused for a heart-stopping moment, then murmured, "In a way I wish I'd noticed sooner. For the first time in a long time, I can see the Chloé that was my friend when we were kids. I've missed her." He leaned closer and playfully nudged her shoulder.
Chloé had to swallow hard before she could respond. "I've missed you too," she whispered.
They were both quiet for a few seconds, and then Adrien shifted closer. He was one warm, solid line against the right side of her body. The spots where they were touching tingled. Chloé swallowed again.
"I guess we're both growing up," Adrien said finally. "And just in case no one ever mentioned this to you, growing up sucks."
Chloé laughed, startled, despite herself. "You're right about that." She thought about the past several months and sighed. "You're too right about that."
They fell quiet again, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Rather, Chloé found herself feeling more at ease than she had for a long time. For the first time in a long time, she had hope that maybe things between her and Adrien weren't completely ruined. Even if they might never have the kind of relationship she really wanted, being Adrien's friend was more than enough. More than she'd dared to hope for, for a while now.
"So tell me," Adrien said finally. "Why the change?"
Chloé paused. It was something she hadn't really talked about with anyone but Sabrina. Mostly because no one else had noticed, but also because it was hard to talk about. But Adrien had confessed some hard things to her tonight too, and he seemed to feel the better for it. Maybe it would feel good to talk to him too. To explain that Chloé had finally gotten a good, hard, painful look at Audrey Bourgeois after living with the woman for over three years, and had decided that she didn't want to be anything like her mother.
But before she could say anything, the balcony suddenly swelled with people. Chloé squeaked in surprise and then squeaked again when Adrien slipped a protective arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. From the excited murmurings of the crowd, it seemed as though it was almost midnight. Everyone wanted to see the firework display. A quick glance around told her the other balconies were filling up too, and so were the grounds below.
"Not here," Chloé said, almost into Adrien's ear because they were so close, and he nodded in understanding.
"How about tomorrow?" he said. "We could have breakfast together. Then we could... I dunno. Spend the day together. Have dinner together. We'd have lots of time to talk."
Chloé couldn't stop herself. "Are you asking me out?"
"What if I am?" Adrien said, looking her squarely in the face.
"I don't want to be a rebound," she said. And definitely not a rebound for Ladybug, of all the people! Chloé simply could not compete.
"You're not," Adrien said, so firmly that she believed him. "I meant it. I really am moving on. And maybe it won't be with you. But I'd like to find out, if you're willing."
"I am," Chloé said, her heart pounding.
"Really?" Adrien looked genuinely delighted, so much so that Chloé had to smile.
"Really," she said. "Happy New Year, Adrien."
"Happy New Year, Chlo," he said softly, barely audible over the countdown of the crowd. He cupped her cheek and leaned in, then hesitated, giving her the chance to pull away if she wanted to. But she didn't. Instead, she leaned forward, almost but not quite, and let Adrien be the one to gently bring their lips together in a sweetly chaste kiss.
Overhead, fireworks began to explode. But they were no match for the fireworks exploding in Chloé's heart as she stared at Adrien. His eyes were wide too, as though startled. Then, suddenly, he grinned again and leaned forward, and she kissed him this time, sliding her hands into his hair as his hands slipped under the jacket, pulling her against him more firmly. They kissed and kissed in tribute to what was the beginning of the best decision either one of them had ever made.