Chapter Text
"Pound it!" Ladybug and Chat Noir said as they shared their usual fist bump after dealing with an akuma.
The latest victim was Marinette's father, Mr. Dupain-Cheng, who got akumatized due to his anger at Chat Noir rejecting his daughter. Over-protective parents are universal but it seems that's taken to a whole other level in Paris while Hawkmoth is on the loose.
"Alright, I've got to run. Bye Chat!" Ladybug said as she zoomed off into the distance, only to sneakily circle back to the alley beside the bakery where she lived. She detransformed and Marinette ran up to her parents to make sure they were okay as she watched Chat leave after seemingly apologizing to her papa.
"Marinette! I was so worried! I'm sorry…" Mr. Dupain-Cheng started to apologize for his actions as Mrs. Dupain-Cheng was comforting him. The big softie was on the verge of tears as Marinette tried to tell him that everything was fine and she wasn't angry or hurt.
Later that night, Marinette was finishing up her homework for the next day when her mind drifted to the day's events. For some reason, moonlight makes her more contemplative. Reflective too. Night time is always the best time to think, especially about wayward thoughts, so once her mind started to drift Marinette quickly closed up and got ready for bed before letting it drift further. She was never the type to fall asleep without doing whatever she needed to do in the day, be it homework or having a shower before bed.
Normally she would talk to Tiki about her thoughts, but the Kwami was already asleep, seeing it was almost 11:00 at night. So instead Marinette laid on her back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling trying to sort her thoughts.
Why did I say I was in love with him? I could have just said that I was his fan! Maybe he wasn't even going to guess I was Ladybug! But there was a big chance so I guess I had to say something… Oh no oh no what am I going to say the next time I see him? "Oh sorry Chat, I don't actually love you, I just said that so you wouldn't suspect that I'm Ladybug"? Oh gosh I have to figure this out.
Lately Chat had dropped by Marinette's place very often. In fact, she could even say that she was a very close confidante to the superhero. And she'd be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy the time they spent together. Meeting him as a civilian showed her a side of him that Ladybug rarely got to see; the insecure, protective cat that just needs someone to care for him, she really liked how their relationship was developing and considered him one of her closest friends.
Lately there'd been more intimacy in their visits, a little brush of hair here, and shoulder touch there, sometimes even having his hand around her shoulder or waist or his head on her lap. They were extremely close, maybe even too close, and she never admitted to herself that she loved it.
Oh no… Wait… What if he starts ignoring me? Or at least civilian me? Will he just stop coming over? I mean that shouldn't really be a problem… Actually that should be a good thing! Right…? Yeah it should be…
Marinette was thinking so much that, at first, she didn't notice the soft taps coming from the window above her. She focused her gaze on the window and saw a black cat staring down at her with his wide green eyes and for a second she forgot how to breathe.
OH. GOD. Why is he here now?!
Though she was panicking inside, on the outside she was relatively calm, only blushing a bit and fumbling to stand up and open the skylight so he could jump in. It didn't help that he landed straight on her bed with her.
"Hey Purrincess" Chat said, trying to lighten the tense mood that came with his arrival.
"Hey Chat…" Marinette mumbled.
"Sorry to drop by announced like this." Chat chuckled but that soon died down as he saw her fidgeting in her place.
They were sitting on her bed now, both with their legs crossed but, while Chat was leaning back with his hands holding him up, Marinette had her hands in her lap and was constantly playing with her fingers.
A moment of silence ensued before both of them spoke at the same time.
"About what I said yesterday…"
"Marinette I wanted to…"
They paused.
"You first."
"You can go first…"
They looked at each other and finally a giggle left Marinette's lips, causing Chat to grin as well. After a bit of laughter, Chat took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he wanted to say.
"Is it fine if I speak first Princess?" He asked. When she nodded he continued. "About today, I'm really sorry about what happened to your dad and I think you're an amazing girl and that anyone would be lucky to be loved by you… but I'm still in love with Ladybug. Even though I know that she'll probably never take my feelings seriously I can't just move on from her so fast. That's even if I've decided to move on which I haven't… mostly. I'm so sorry about giving you the wrong impression. I know that the last few months have been very misleading…" He was watching her reaction the whole time he was speaking and noticed that the red blush from her cheeks had faded and was replaced by a glistening sheen in her eyes.
He waited for her to say something, having said all he wanted to, but when she continued to remain silent he figured that she probably needed time alone. He got up, ready to leave.
"Well I guess I should give you some time. I understand if you don't want to see me again…" He said as he opened the skylight to leave.
The look on Chat's face when he was speaking brought tears to her eyes, chasing away all thoughts of embarrassment.
Marinette was caught up in her emotions. Guilt, sadness, sympathy… She didn't know that Chat was serious about everything he said to Ladybug. That he actually loved her. She felt guilty at her total obliviousness because she knows how it is to be on the other side from her experience with Adrien. But despite the guilt she was mostly sad because he was right. Ladybug would probably never be able to return his feelings the way he wanted her to, not just because of responsibilities, but mostly because she was Marinette. And Marinette was in love with Adrien.
Just as Chat Noir was about to leave, Marinette came back to her senses and leapt up, calling out to him.
"Chat, wait!" He was already out, but fortunately he'd heard her. He peeked through the skylight to see her standing right under it.
"Yes?" He said, a little nervous.
"Chat, wait- Just stay right there!" Marinette said as she dashed downstairs leaving Chat behind in confusion.
"Uh okay?" He spoke to nothing but the cold wind as he sat down on a bunch of cushions beside the skylight.
Soon Marinette came running up with a tray of warm treats in her hands but she didn't stay for long after leaving the tray on a table near Chat and running back down to her room. This time she came up with a bunch of blankets and draped one over the corner he was sitting in and threw the other at him.
"Oof" Chat grunted as the giant bundle of warmth covered him, protecting him from the breeze. Soon enough the corner he was seated in was nicely decorated to be a cosy outdoor comfort spot. A blanket over him protected him from the wind, a string of fairy lights was turned on for visibility (though he didn't really need them but she probably did) and the tray of warm cookies and macaroons and some hot chocolate were wafting a delicious scent over.
"Phew" Marinette sighed, standing with her legs a bit apart, her hands on her hips, happy to see her finished product. It didn't take very long since she did this often but she bet that Chat was very confused right now.
"Sorry about that, I just wanted to have a talk and I thought we might as well get comfortable…" Marinette clarified her intentions.
"We could have just stayed inside, Princess" Chat smiled.
Marinette's brain went silent for a bit. "O-oh yeah! What was I even thinking?" She berated herself. A chuckle interrupted her tirade before it could start.
"It's fine, since it's all set up already, why don't you come sit down?" Chat flashed a wide grin at her, just happy that she still wanted to talk to him. She was one of the closest friends he had and he didn't want to lose her over something like this.
Marinette went over and burrowed under the blankets beside him, grabbing a cup of hot chocolate and passing one to him as well. Winter was just starting up so it was pretty cold outside, but they could still stay there for a while like this.
"Chat I… I know you like- no- love Ladybug. I never meant to get in the way."
"Princess I-"
"No, wait let me finish Chat." He nodded and she continued "Honestly, there's this guy that I've liked for a long time now. I'm so madly in love with him that I can barely stutter out a sentence when he's around. The thing is that, I know he likes someone else. And it hurts… S-so I understand how you feel and I didn't mean to undermine that. About what I said yesterday, I think I may have misunderstood myself…"
"What do you mean?" Chat questioned, wondering why she told him that she loves him when she likes someone else. Or maybe she was talking about him? This was getting too confusing…
Marinette took a deep breath, trying to sort out her thoughts and wondering if the white lie she was going to tell was worth it. And if it was even a lie at all…
"I mean, ever since I realized that the boy I had a crush on likes someone else I've been conflicted about how I feel about him. In all those messed up emotions you came along… all knight-in-shining-leather like and kinda threw me off my balance with your stupid puns and charming smile and your easy going nature… with everything that makes you you…" She paused to catch her breath at the realization that what she was narrating may not be a lie after all.
Marinette took a breath and continued. "It was so easy to talk to you, and you were willing to listen and you didn't judge me or criticise me and you made me feel safe. You helped with my designing and homework, god knows I need help with Physics, and played Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 with me. And I guess… I just started thinking that I like you."
Marinette looked at Chat to gauge his reaction to the whole mess. His eyes were trained on her, hot chocolate cupped in both hands. He was listening intently with his brows slightly furrowed and his lips in a small frown, like he didn't like what he was hearing.
"Thinking?" Chat caught the key word in the whole explanation, his stomach squeezing a bit.
"Y-yeah" Marinette said. She wasn't sure anymore which part of her story was a lie. "I think I convinced myself that I like you because of how comfortable I was with you."
"I see" Chat murmured looking down at his cup, his brow furrowed tighter and his frown growing the slightest bit. He didn't like what he was hearing. He didn't understand why such unreasonable emotions were welling up inside him.
"Chat?" Marinette tried to get his attention when he remained quiet for just a bit too long.
"Oh. Yeah, I understand. That's good then…" Chat responded a bit dazed.
Marinette felt a knot in her stomach, of course he'd be relieved, he loves Ladybug. Turns out she had started to like Chat quite a while ago. Marinette knew that she was Ladybug but she acted completely different when donning the mask of her superhero self. She didn't portray herself as the same person as she was in regular life so even if she knew that Chat loved Ladybug there's no guarantee that he'd love Marinette. It would be better if she just didn't act on it and tried to move on. She hadn't even moved on from Adrien… how did this happen?
The rest of the night was spent chatting and relaxing until Chat had to leave since it was a school night after all.
The next morning, Marinette groggily woke up to her alarm clock ringing right by her ear. She checked the time and noticed that she only had a few minutes to get to school before her first lesson began.
"Oh no! Tikki, we're gonna be late again!" She said to the Kwami as she ran around the room throwing her clothes and shoes on. She grabbed her bag and made a break for the school, grabbing a croissant from the bakery along the way.
"See you after school mama, papa!" She hurried.
"Be careful, Marinette!" Her parents waved after her and continued setting up the bakery, this was a regular morning in their home.
The bluenette managed to reach class right in time for the lesson to begin and settled down for a subject that mostly went over her head, Alya by her side ready to engage in gossip with her.
After a few classes lunch rolled around and Alya and Marinette made their way to the cafeteria after stopping by their lockers.
"Girl, you really need to pick up the pace with your confession. We're almost done with school!" Alya exclaimed. They were currently in the last semester of their final year of high school, time had flown by so fast for every single one of them. Especially Marinette.
"I know... It's just, he doesn't seem to like me like that. I think he likes Eloise..." Eloise was a student that transferred at the beginning of the year. She'd moved from another school in Paris to Francois Dupont for personal reasons and ever since her arrival she'd been pretty close with Adrien.
"Oh Marinette..." Alya sighed, feeling bad for her friend. "Okay well how about you try asking him out to Prom? It's the last chance you'll probably ever have to have something real with him so just gather all the courage you've stored for the past 4 years, ask him out and if he says no put him behind you. If he says yes I will help you plan your wedding."
Alya tried to divert the attention from a certain student and Marinette let her do it. She thought about what the brunette said for a minute and then figured it was worth a shot, why not give it one last try?
"Okay..." Marinette replied hesitantly.
"Yes! Okay ask him today!"
"W-what? Today?!"
"Yes today! If you don't do it now you never will!" Marinette contemplated her words and then nodded, trying to not think too much about it. Maybe if she acted before thinking she'd actually do it. Maybe she could trick her brain to be confident without the mask.
At the end of the day the group of four, Alya, Nino, Marinette and Adrien headed out of the school building together. Adrien broke off from the group to head towards his newest friend, Eloise.
Being Chat Noir, the urge to know Ladybug's true identity was stronger in Adrien than anyone else and despite knowing that it was wrong he subconsciously tried to figure it out regularly. It was human nature. He had looked into many people, Marinette included, but the person most similar to Ladybug that he'd met so far was Eloise Bisset. She had beautiful blue-black hair, gorgeous blue eyes and all the poise, confidence and humour of one of Paris' favourite heroes.
He'd never really entertained the idea that Ladybug might be as different beneath her mask as he was with Chat.
"Eloise!" Adrien called.
"Oh, Adrien..." Eloise blushed as he made his way over to her. She had started liking him quite a bit after their first few encounters.
"Are you doing anything this weekend? Maybe we can catch a movie?"
*Crack*
That was the sound of Marinette's heart breaking just the slightest bit. At least he hadn't said outright that he loves her right? Maybe she still had a chance?
Alya watched Marinette who seemed to be spiraling into a dark rabbit hole.
"Girl, just give it a shot. Just try."
"O-Okay..."
Marinette took a couple deep breaths and walked up to the two while Alya and Nino were silently cheering her on from the background.
She was doing it! She was doing it! She was finally doing it!
"A-Adrien!" Marinette squeaked, unintentionally interrupting him.
"Uh, yeah Marinette?" Adrien asked, a bit surprised by the sudden interruption.
"C-Could I talk to you p-privately for a minute?" Her stuttering was getting worse because all Marinette could think of was if Adrien hated her for interrupting his conversation with Eloise.
Adrien looked to Eloise to see if she was fine with that.
"Oh, yeah totally! I'll be right over there." Eloise said, pointing to her group of friends a little distance away.
"Alright, what's up Mari?" He asked her, a little concerned about his close friend.
"Um I-I, So... I've... You... I-"
"Marinette I don't really understand..." Adrien trailed of when she blurted something over the end of his sentence.
"I LIKE YOU!" Marinette's face went red and she was more embarrassed and scared than relieved to have gotten it off her shoulders. She wanted to run away and hide under the covers of her bed, never to see the light of day again.
I like you...
I like you...
I like you...
Adrien was having a strange sense of deja vu. The same girl had confessed to him twice in the span of two days. Though she didn't know it. Was he the 'boy she had a crush on' that she was telling Chat about last night? And how had he not noticed for so long? Looking back, she was being quite obvious about it. Was he that oblivious? Or was Ladybug taking up more of his thoughts than he realized?
Adrien was too caught up in his thoughts to realise he'd left Marinette hanging. She was on the verge of tears when he finally snapped out of it and realised he had been quiet for too long.
Marinette was debating whether she should just run when she heard him speak.
"Marinette..." He paused, trying to collect his thoughts. "I'm sorry Marinette but I don't like you like that..."
Marinette teared up, her first love was fading away and there was nothing she could do about it.
"You're an amazing girl Mari, and any guy that's loved by you is lucky as hell but..."
"You love someone else." Marinette finished for him. If it was true that any guy she liked was lucky to have her like them, then why did they never like her back?
"Yeah." Adrien looked away.
"I-It's fine. Thanks for being honest with me." She gave him a watery smile and turned around, making her way to the bakery and passing by Alya and Nino. She didn't feel like talking about what happened just yet. She wanted to be alone.
Adrien watched her as she left and felt a throb of pain in his chest. He broke her heart twice in two days... Well maybe just once if what she told him as Chat was true. Still, he felt horrible about it. But that's just how he felt. He'd never really considered Marinette as anything more than a friend, even when he suspected she was Ladybug.
A week passed and Marinette was looking a bit worse for wear. She constantly had bags under her eyes and sometimes even fell asleep in class. She was also actively avoiding him, coming in super late (not unusual) and going straight to her seat, leaving as soon as the bell rang, having lunch away from wherever he sat and staying on opposite sides of the room during classes where she had a choice. He was honestly a bit hurt.
Adrien felt an immense amount of guilt because he was the most likely reason she was like that.
He missed having one of his best friends around. He'd feel it every time he thought up something funny and started to move to catch her attention only to stop at the last minute, every time he got an idea for some cool hangout and refrained from telling her first, whenever he had the urge to play Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 in her room and chill with some baked delights. He had never noticed how much time they spent together before.
Ever since he rejected her, the model hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. He would always worry about her and fret over the possibility of her getting akumatised. Thankfully it hadn't happened yet.
Maybe she wasn't that affected by it after all...?
It's not that he wanted her to get akumatized but the fact that she hadn't been must mean she didn't care that much right? Could she have gotten over him that quickly? Somehow the thought that she was unaffected didn't sit well with him.
"Adrien!" Nino nudged him, gesturing towards the board where Mrs. Bustier was waiting for him to answer a question. And just like that he was pulled out of his thoughts and back to the real world.
Until that afternoon.
Eloise had found him after classes and stopped him for a bit before he left.
"Adrien I- I wanted to ask you something." She looked very nervous and unlike herself. Somehow she reminded him of Marinette from a few days ago.
"What's up Eloise?" He smiled.
"I think I really like you, Adrien would you go out with me?" Her hands were behind her back and she was switching between watching the ground and watching his face for clues.
Adrien surprised himself by feeling almost burdened by the confession. Didn't he like her? That's probably Ladybug! Even if she's not, Eloise is a great girl!
But... it just didn't feel right.
"I..." he trailed off.
"I'm so sorry Eloise but I don't think I can go out with you..." he started. "I like someone else right now and even if I like you a little I don't want to lead you on before I sort my feelings out."
Eloise teared up, a hurt look on her face. "I thought you liked me. You made me believe you liked me!"
Adrien felt guilty and anxious. "I'm so sorry Eloise, I really didn't mean to trick you or anything! You have to believe me-"
He started to panic at the idea that he might cause her to get akumatised. He didn't know if she was Ladybug, but in the chance she was, her being akumatised would be really really bad.
"Stop, Adrien..." Eloise sighed. "It's alright. I misinterpreted your intentions, and you have no obligation to like me back..."
Another sigh, "Well, all that's left to do is move on. I'm not going to be waiting around for you. Goodbye Adrien."
She turned around and walked away.
What just happened? Were they still friends? Why did she just leave like that?
Adrien was very confused but he saw Gorilla ushering him into the limo and he forced himself to move.