Chapter Text
Six steps to the right, turn, six steps to the left, turn, repeat. Marinette had been pacing for the past ten minutes, but all Adrien could think about was how cute his lady looked while pouting. Really, no one could fault him for the dreamy smile that refused to leave his lips. Afterall, the girl of his dreams turned out to be his crush (not that he would have admitted to it if Marinette wasn’t his lady; he already had enough trouble convincing her of his feelings without cute classmates in the equation).
Still, no matter how cute it was, Marinette was already doing a bit of damage to the grass. Ten minutes ought to be enough for her to settle a little bit, right? And they still had to eat…
“My lady?”
Marinette made a sharp turn, staring at him intensely.
Adrien gulped, his mind going blank.
After five minutes of awkward silence and a lot of staring, Marinette sighed, shoulders slumping. Shaking her head, she looked right back in his eyes.
“Do… Do you want to go to my place? We can have lunch and then talk about… about this.”
Adrien didn’t know why, but for some reason it hurt. Maybe it was the look in her eyes, or the lack of her stutter, or even the way she referred to them as this.
Probably a mix of all three.
Silently nodding, Adrien trailed after her deep in thought. Was Chat really that repulsive to her? Adrien wasn’t as dense as people thought, sure, his upbringing made him slower when it came to recognizing when someone liked him, but Marinette’s crush was deep. It took him a while, but he did notice it. And knowing that made the change in Marinette’s behaviour even more telling.
All fantasies Adrien had come up with during the last couple hours since connecting Ladybug to Marinette fell apart. Something about Chat, something about who he considered to be his true self, obviously didn’t sit well with his lady.
Truly, it was depressing.
Adrien looked ahead, focusing on Marinette’s hair. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know how he never noticed his lady right behind him. Even if he considered her change in personality when talking to him, he still saw her in other situations. Marinette and Ladybug had easily become one in his head.
It was so stupid of him to not realize it sooner. Marinette didn’t have any drastic changes of style when transformed, even her red ribbons were similar to the ties she usually wore.
God, he’d miss seeing those ribbons. Maybe it was the cat in him, but there was something entrancing about the way they moved. He often wished they were longer, just so he could chase them.
All too soon, they stood in front of Marinette’s house, and all he hoped for was that the only thing he lost was the sight of her red ribbons.