Chapter Text
Ladybug wipes the sweat off her brow as she lassos the Akumatised janitor with her yo-yo. As the monster crumbles to the ground, she sweeps her eyes across the rooftops one last time, her hope faltering when she sees... nothing.
He wasn't coming.
She breathes in sharply. It seemed like Ladybug would have to get used to working solo from now on. With a final burst of energy, she deevilizes the janitor and everything resets to the way it was.
Except now Ladybug was just 18-year old Marinette, leaning dejectedly against her locker in school. She looks over at Adrien's locker, untouched for two weeks and collecting dust since he left Paris for wherever it was that he went. First him, now Chat Noir.
Looks like she's going to lose all her partners.
Two Years Later
Marinette fumbled with her purse, trying to get her house keys out of her bag. Her bag was always incredibly disorganized, full of scraps and who-knows-what else lying around in there. Frowning, she shook her purse and tried to listen for the jingling sound of her keys. She finally managed to fish them out with her fingers and stuffed the key into the lock.
But before she could turn the key, she heard someone clearing his throat behind her. Her Ladybug senses kicked in and she swerved around, fists up and ready to defend herself.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you!" said the person who stood on the opposite side of the hallway. His was slightly crouched over and his arms were shielding his face, clearly an automatic response to her almost-attack.
Marinette's arms fell to her sides in shock as she gaped at him. Her confused blue eyes met with bright green ones.
The man straightened up, his eyes never looking away from her face. "Hi," he said nervously.
He looked a little different. He was a little taller, more built. His skin had become more sallow and he looked like he needed rest. But his blonde hair still reminded her of sunshine and his eyes were unmistakably those of -
"Adrien!" Without thinking, Marinette launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Adrien froze for a second, before melting in her embrace. They stood in each other's arms for a few seconds before Marinette pulled back to look at his face.
"I've missed you," she whispered.
"I've missed you too," he said quietly. Suddenly, he became hyper-aware that her face was too close to his face, that he could cound every freckle if he wanted to. But he didn't want to. Right now, he wanted really badly to do something else.
All the feelings from the past five years of knowing her came rushing back to him in that moment. All the times they had danced around each other at school. The little crush that he had on her that he never told anybody about. He wanted to do something about it today.
Adrien felt his face grow warmer. His eyes flickered down to Marinette's lips for just a second but Marinette caught that glance. She subconsciously leaned closer and so did he, before their lips crashed hungrily against one another's.
This had never happened before. It took five years - two of them with him being absent - to get to this kiss. He didn't know what got over him but he just desperately wanted to feel loved right now. And she made him feel at home. She always did.
He was so tired and lost and he needed Marinette to comfort him.
He took a step forward and before Marinette knew it, her back was pushed up against the door to her apartment. Her heartbeat hammered in her chest and she was sure he could feel it.
Why was he kissing her? She thought she was the one with the crush that she couldn't get over, yet the first thing Adrien does when he comes back is to kiss her senseless? She didn't get it but she didn't care.
With one hand wrapped around Adrien's back, her other hand grappled with turning the key in the lock.
It clicked. The door flew open and the two of them came crashing down on the floor of her apartment, Adrien landing on top of her, grinning wildly down at her. She felt her cheeks go pink.
"Adrien, the door - " she choked out, but he was way ahead of her. He kicked it closed with his foot and went straight back to kissing her.
'This cannot be happening,' Marinette thought. 'I am not making out with Adrien Agreste on the floor right now.'
They hadn't even had time to talk, for goodness sake! And they honestly had so much to talk about.
Her mind snapped back into focus when she felt Adrien unzipping her jacket halfway and her breath caught in her throat.
'Oh my god.'
But he stopped short when something in her jacket pocket started ringing. He looked up at her face pleadingly. "Don't pick up."
Marinette considered doing as he said. But her phone kept ringing incessantly and she gave in, looking at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, I have to. It might be important," she said, as she reached into her pocket.
Adrien sighed and resolved to resting his head on her ribs, drawing little circles with his thumb on her skin where her t-shirt had ridden up. Marinette sucked in a breath and looked at her screen.
Alya was Facetiming her. She clicked 'answer'.
'HEY MARINETTE!' came Alya's loud voice through the phone.
"H-hey Alya!" Marinette answered lamely. "What's up?"
"I have such BIG news!" Alya paused. "Girl, where ARE you?"
"Wht are you talking about, I'm at home!" Marinette said quickly.
Alya shot her a suspicious look. "Yeah but why are you on the floor?" she asked.
Marinette blushed as she heard Adrien snigger quietly. "O-oh, nothing, just having a little lie down! What did you want to tell me again?" she said, changing the subject.
"Oh right! Nino just called me and guess what? ADRIEN IS BACK IN TOWN!" squealed Alya through the phone.
Marinette giggled. "I already know that!"
Alya furrowed her brows. "You do? But how, Nino literally JUST called me, like, three seconds ago."
Adrien took that as his queue and he dragged his body up to level himself to Marinette's face - which was now blushing furiously - and popped his blonde head into frame.
Marinette cringed beside him and he gave Alya a sheepish smile. "Hey Alya," he smiled.
"Adrien?? What are you doing at Marinette's - oh OH." Alya's eyes widened. She glanced back at Marinette and gasped. "Well. I - uh - I THINK I'M GONNA HANG UP NOW, BYE."
The line went dead and Marinette and Adrien burst into laughter. He rolled himself off her and landed with a thump beside her, still chuckling softly. "Well, so much for THAT," he sighed, both of them staring at the ceiling.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, their brains barely able to take in what had just happened, before Marinette finally spoke up.
"Do you want some coffee?" she asked, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling.
Adrien turned to look at her. Her profile was still as pretty as he remembered it to be. She didn't wear her hair in pigtails anymore, she stopped doing that at 17. She had lost her baby fat but she was still gorgeous, her lips slightly swollen (his fault, he remembered, with a flush) and her eyelashes fluttering with every blink. But she looked a little sad, too. And tired.
He wondered what happened to her when he left. Maybe now, he could really talk to her. Opening his mouth, he replied:
"I'd like that."