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Ladynoir
This was a bad idea.
This was a stupid, embarrassing, downright cringey idea. Normally Cat Noir was the one who came up with those and Adrien the one who regretted them later, but today the roles reversed. Today Adrien was the cheesy cringelord while Cat Noir mentally beat him with his baton and grasped for straws for what to say to Ladybug.
"It's just trash," he said, his back stick-straight and hands behind it. "I was just about to throw it away."
"Give it to me, I'll throw it away for you," she said, unable to hide a mischievous grin.
She'd arrived to the rooftop just as Cat Noir decided not to enact the genius plan Adrien had formulated that afternoon, giving him only a second to quickly hide what he'd brought behind his back. Unfortunately for him, she'd noticed how startled he was at her arrival and how he kept his hands hidden. She asked him what he was holding. He said it was nothing. She knew he was lying. And now here they were.
"What kind of gentleman would I be if I made you throw away my trash for me?" he asked, trying to insert some of his usual nonchalance into his voice. "I'll just go throw this in a dumpster real quick, and we can get started on patrol--"
She moved lightning fast. It was great when fighting akumas, but not when he was trying to hide something from her. Thankfully he had his own cat-like reflexes. He yanked his hand back just before she could grab it, instinctively drawing his baton like he was fighting an enemy. Her grin widened. She unfastened her yo-yo and began spinning it like a shield, circling around him, searching for an opening. She found one. Cat Noir dodged as his partner pounced, keeping his fist closed around the mystery object as he spun around trying to keep her off his back.
"There's no way it's just trash!" Ladybug laughed.
"It can be if you'd just let me throw it away!" he yelled back.
She tried her shot again, but Cat Noir was too quick. He leapt to the neighboring rooftop (sneaking a glance down at the alley below to see if there was a dumpster he could use). Ladybug quickly caught on to the game of chase. She stayed on his tail, following him from one rooftop to another, her laughs ringing like bells and almost making him reconsider his plan. But now his pride of winning this little game was on the line.
He picked up his pace and took a sharp left, hoping to throw her off. He didn't. She stayed steadily behind him. He tried again, veering to the right. Then again to the left, then again and again. Eventually he registered that the sound of giggles behind him had been gone for a while. He landed on a rooftop, tucking and rolling this time instead of taking another leap. When he stood back up, panting, he looked around. A normal Paris winter night. Christmas lights adorning storefront windows, jingle bells idly jingling below him. People walking and talking cheerily on the sidewalks. No sign of Ladybug anywhere.
The smile he'd unwittingly had while running waned. His eyebrows knit in concern. "Ladybu--"
"Got it!" shouted a triumphant voice behind him as he felt his fist open and its contents yanked away.
He whipped around to see Ladybug eagerly looking down at her own hands. In a last effort to remove himself from this stupid situation, he sputtered, "it's not mine, I'm just holding it for a friend!"
Ladybug looked back up at him and dangled the mystery object in front of her. "Mistletoe?"
Cat Noir ignored his face warming, probably turning embarrassingly red, and shortened his baton. "Yes," he said, enunciating the word with indignance.
It really was dumb. The idea had occurred to him earlier that day, and for some reason he'd gotten more and more hyped for it as the day went on. He'd discreetly hang it somewhere and lead her to that spot, then joke about how they should kiss. And, magically, she would agree. They'd kiss, and she'd realize she actually liked kissing him, and they'd start dating. Then eventually they'd get married and buy a house and have kids. And somewhere down the line they'd defeat Hawk Moth and set Paris free. Adrien had had it allll planned out earlier. And now the plan was going up in flames.
Ladybug giggled again as she tossed the mistletoe back to him and fastened her yo-yo back to her hip. "Why do you have mistletoe?"
Because of your smile right now, he thought, shoving the words back down his throat before he could actually say them. Because of the flush on your face after running across rooftops. Because of how you laugh while swinging through Paris, and how your hair gets all tousled in the wind…
"It was a prank," he ended up saying.
Nice save.
Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "A prank?"
"Well, it was supposed to be a prank, but you got here before I could set it up." He took a playful accusatory tone to cover up how nervous coming up with this lie was making him. "I was going to hang it somewhere, and lead you to it, and, uh, record your reaction upon seeing it. Because you probably would have gotten all freaked out and flustered, and it would've been hilarious." He shrugged dramatically. "But it didn't work out. Shame. Oh well, there's always next Christmas. Now let's get patrolling."
He prepared to swagger off on their usual route when Ladybug interrupted. "Really? That was the prank?"
He faced her again, inexplicably offended. "What, you don't think I'm funny?"
"I think you could do better." Her mischievous grin returned. "You know what I would do as a mistletoe prank?"
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I'd set it up, lead you to it, make you think I'm going to kiss you." She gestured with her hands, setting the scene. "You'd close your eyes and lean in, but right before the kiss, I'd have you open your eyes to find that I'd switched places with Carapace."
He laughed. "Carapace?"
"I'd get that on video. That would be a hilarious reaction."
Cat Noir crossed his arms. "Well, joke's on you, because if I saw Carapace there I'd kiss him even harder than I'd kiss you."
"Oh really?"
"Yup."
"I'm not sure Rena Rouge would like that."
"Oh, like you and her don't have your own little romance going on."
That was where they left it for most of the night. They started patrolling, their conversations turning to much more normal things than kissing, much to Cat Noir's simultaneous relief and chagrin. He'd stuffed the mistletoe back into his suit pocket and intended to leave it there until he could throw it out at home, where he could forget about his whole plan for good. It was better that way.
Eventually it was time to go home. Cat Noir prepared to bid farewell, but Ladybug gasped before he could.
"Wait! Do you still have the mistletoe?" she asked, and he stifled a groan.
He fished it out of his pocket and handed it to Ladybug, who immediately reached up to fasten it to the beam above them. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Well, just because we can't play our pranks on each other anymore, doesn't mean we can't still do them. What if we got Rena Rouge and Carapace up here and pranked them?"
The idea of watching Rena Rouge and Carapace live some version of his dream didn't get him particularly enthused, so he focused on the first thing she said. "Excuse me, who said we can't play our pranks on each other anymore? I can still get you when you least expect it."
"Well, good luck trying. Now that I know you're going to try and get me under some mistletoe, there's no way I'd… actually… get under it with you…"
Her sentence petered as she slowly looked above them. Cat Noir, confused, followed her gaze.
And burst into laughter.
"It's not funny!" Ladybug protested through Cat Noir's hysterics. She'd accidentally hung the mistletoe directly between them.
"Oh man, do I wish I'd actually recorded this," Cat Noir said, wiping his eyes.
Ladybug rolled her eyes and took out her yo-yo. "Alright, ha ha, your little prank worked after all. Goodbye."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Cat Noir asked, and fell into another bout of laughter.
Her face scrunched into a pout, Ladybug fastened her yo-yo back to her hip and stepped toward him. She grabbed his shoulders and kissed both his cheeks. "There. Will that shut you up?"
"Nothing will ever truly shut me up, m'lady," he said, but halfway through his sentence he noticed the expression in her face had subdued, and she was now looking at his face thoughtfully.
Thinking he had overstepped some boundary, he was about to apologize, when she leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips.
The kiss lasted only two seconds, maybe three, and Ladybug didn't seem to realize quite what she'd done until seconds after she'd slowly pulled away. But once she did, her eyes widened.
He figured he should say something first. "Ladybug--"
"SORRY." She fumbled for her yo-yo. "S-sorry. That was… I have to go."
"Ladybug," he tried again, but she was already running off.
"BYE!" she shouted as she leapt off the tower and swung away.
Alone he stood on the platform, his right hand coming up to touch the edge of his lips. The cold air made the parts that had been touched by her own stand out.
They didn't mention it the next time they met, nor the time after that. And they never did play their joke on Rena Rouge and Carapace.
Ladrien
Ladybug had no idea what kind of "prior engagement" Cat Noir had that could possibly warrant him missing this, but it better have been good for how uncomfortable she was here without him.
This was by far the liveliest she'd ever seen the Agreste mansion, aside from that one party Nino threw with all the boys while Mr. Agreste was away. Christmas parties generally had everyone in good spirits. Well, mostly everyone. It wasn't that Ladybug wasn't happy to be there. She was very grateful to have been invited. Very! But she'd only been there about five minutes so far and realized in those minutes that it was primarily adults around her, some of whom she'd met in the past and hadn't gotten the best impression of. She noted Bob Roth and Audrey Bourgeois in the crowd and couldn't help a scowl.
She was already planning a discreet escape when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Um, hi," said the voice in that direction, and minus the nervousness in it, it almost sounded like Cat Noir himself. But when she turned around she was met with a very different blond.
"Adrien!" she yelped, then winced at her inelegance. She cleared her throat. "Adrien Agreste. Fancy meeting you here."
He smiled. "You too," he said. "Sorry if I startled you. I just saw you standing here, and you looked a little uncomfortable, so…"
Ladybug laughed. "Me? Uncomfortable? Don't be silly," she started, but Adrien chuckled and shook his head.
"Nah, these parties are boring. It's fun watching them set everything up, but once the event actually starts, there's never anything to do."
The more Adrien talked, the more relaxed Ladybug began to feel, and she smiled a bit easier as she asked, "do you have these kinds of parties a lot?"
He shrugged. "We used to. My mom liked throwing them. It's unlike my father to throw one on his own, but I guess it's a good thing he's getting more comfortable doing this sort of thing again." Then there was a slight smirk when he said, "I just wish he'd, you know, get more comfortable spending time with his only son again."
Immediately he stiffened. His smirk turned into a small, stressed smile as he said, "wow, I've been talking to you for thirty seconds and I've already overshared."
"It's fine," Ladybug said gently. She looked around. "Were you at least allowed to invite your friends here?"
"If I was, they'd be here right now," he said. "But... it's kind of nice just talking to you right now."
Ladybug felt her cheeks warm. "It is," she agreed.
"Ladybug!" exclaimed a voice to the side. Ladybug and Adrien both turned to see Harry Clown swaggering toward them, Gabriel Agreste trailing behind stiffly. "The heroine of Paris. Where's your other half tonight?"
"Cat Noir?" Ladybug asked, as if he could have been referring to anyone else. "He, um, had a prior engagement."
"Prior engagement! With who? The Pope?!" Harry threw an arm around the host of the party, who looked as though he merely tolerated it and nothing more. "What could have been more important than a Christmas party thrown by the Gabriel Agreste?"
"Flattery alone won't get you a front row seat at the next runway show, Harry," Gabriel said.
"Flattery alone, he says." Harry gave Ladybug a wink before turning to look at Adrien. "Well, Cat Noir better get here soon before he's replaced. Gabey! You ever notice how much your boy looks like Cat Noir?"
Gabriel looked his son up and down as he often had before photoshoots and runway shows. "I've noticed a superficial resemblance," he said, and Ladybug thought she saw Adrien redden.
If Harry could sense anyone's discomfort, though, he certainly didn't care. In fact, Ladybug noticed then how red his own face was, and the almost empty champagne glass in his hand. She wondered how many that one was. "Superficial. More like super hero. Ha! Wait, was that a pun, Gabey? Did you do that on purpose?"
"If you'll excuse us," Gabriel said to the teens, leading his friend away.
"This guy! You'd never think it, but he's got a great sense of humor! Helped me with my stand-up back in the day. Not to mention the fry costume!" Gabriel discreetly elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!"
As the two men left, Ladybug looked around. It seemed like Harry Clown wasn't alone in how much champagne he'd probably drunk. The adults around them were gradually getting louder and looser in movement.
Adrien appeared to notice the same thing. "Do you want to head out to the balcony?" he asked.
Ladybug smiled and nodded, and he led her to it.
The air outside was crisp and cold, but Ladybug felt warm inside as Adrien closed the door and stepped out next to her. "It's much quieter out here," he said.
"Yeah," she said.
They let the quiet persist for a few moments.
"So…" Adrien said after a bit. "Where is Cat Noir? Did he say?"
Ladybug shook her head. "No, he just said he already had plans. I didn't push."
"Oh really, you didn't push?" he asked, and there seemed something behind his words that she couldn't really place. Sure, she had pushed a little, but Adrien wouldn't know that.
(She had pushed a lot, actually. She really had been nervous to come alone.)
"We're not really supposed to know that kind of stuff about each other," Ladybug said.
"I see." Adrien nodded, looking away from her and out toward the view. The quiet almost took over again, but then he spoke. "Why not?"
"Why not?" Ladybug thought for a moment. "Well… it's dangerous. Suppose Hawk Moth, like, captures, or hypnotizes, or targets one of us in any way. He could easily learn that one's identity, and all he'd have to do to learn the other's identity is just ask the one he's already got. And boom-- both of us are in his clutches, he has our miraculous, and he destroys the world!"
"I guess," Adrien said, the finality of her words not seeming to have much effect. "Don't you think he'd have tried that by now, though? He's been at this for a while. If he hasn't thought of that by now, I don't think he ever will."
Ladybug considered that. "Well, if he does, I'd rather play on the safe side."
This time the quiet did come again. It was accentuated with the muffled music and chatter from inside the mansion, as well as the idle noises from the street below. Adrien turned to look down at it. "It'd be nice to know who you are," he said quietly.
And for the second time that night he appeared to immediately regret talking. "I-- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud. I mean-- I was just thinking it, and then I said it. I didn't mean to be weird or anything. I just… ugh. "
Flustered Adrien Agreste was a sight to behold, but Ladybug said nothing of it. Instead she took on a teasing smile and said, "was Harry Clown right? Are you trying to replace my partner?"
"What?" Adrien cleared his throat. "Ha. Um, definitely not. I don't think I could do half the stuff Cat Noir does."
"You know it's the miraculous that gives us all those abilities, right? I bet without his ring he's just like you."
He raised an eyebrow. "Just like me?"
A slight raise in volume somewhere in the city caught their attention and made them look out at the view again. It gave Ladybug an idea. "I'll tell you what…" She smiled. "If you're really looking for the superhero experience, I think I can arrange something."
He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"How long do you think we'd have until your father notices we're gone?"
"What?" Adrien looked back toward the door. "I mean, he's busy right now, but he'd definitely notice eventually--"
"This won't take long." Ladybug took her yo-yo off her hip with one hand and held the other out to Adrien. "Do you trust me?"
He looked down at her hand, then in her eyes. Then smiled.
"Always," he said.
He took her hand. Ladybug pulled him in, held him tight around the waist, and leapt away.
She didn't have to swing too far to get to the Eiffel Tower, but it didn't look like that mattered to Adrien. His face was a picture of pure joy as she leapt and swung all the way to the top. She never realized how rare it was for her to hear Adrien laugh-- really laugh-- until she heard it right then, and she was hit with the smallest bit of sadness but the largest sense of delight.
They made it to the uppermost platform. Ladybug let go and allowed Adrien to collect his laughter. When he did, she gestured to the view around them.
"What do you think?" she said.
He stepped toward the railing and rested both hands on it as he took in the view, eyes widening in wonder as he looked around.
"It's incredible," he breathed. He turned to her in awe. "I can't believe you get to look at this view whenever you want."
"It never gets old," she agreed. Then, realizing it might make him sad to think too much about what he was missing out on, she backtracked. "But it's not whenever I want! And you kind of get to as well, don't you?"
At that, his smile disappeared. "What?"
"I just meant the view from your room, in your house," she clarified. "You, um, get a better view than most!"
His shoulders, which had tensed up, relaxed. But his smile still didn't return, and he didn't meet her eye as he murmured, "yeah, I get a better everything than most, don't I?"
Once again Ladybug didn't quite know how to continue. She supposed she should have been thankful when something caught Adrien's attention-- she surely would have put her foot in her mouth in some way-- but when she followed his face and realized what it was he was staring at, her jaw dropped.
"Oh my gosh-- I-- no!" The mistletoe from that one fateful winter day still hung there, seemingly laughing at her, just as Cat Noir had done right before she'd kissed him under it. "I am so sorry, I completely forgot that was there! That was Cat Noir's idea-- er, well actually it was my idea to put it there-- but that's been there for so long now! I promise I didn't put it there for you!"
"It's fine, Ladybug," Adrien laughed.
She covered her face. "You probably think I'm such a weirdo."
"Of course not," he assured her. He looked between her and the mistletoe, a smirk forming. "So, you and Cat Noir, huh?"
"What?" She realized what he was asking. "Oh-- no! It's not like that."
The smirk was full now. "So what is it like?"
That was a question she would love the answer to.
"I… don't know," she said quietly after a few seconds, and his expression changed to… something Ladybug couldn't quite decipher, but looked a little like surprise.
"Can-- can we stop talking about Cat Noir?" She attempted a laugh. "I'm really starting to think you want to replace him."
Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but didn't. He appeared to mull over a number of things to say. Finally he decided on something. "Well, if he's up here kissing you under the mistletoe, maybe I do."
Her eyes shot up to meet his at that.
His words were bold enough that she expected something like hubris in his eyes, but instead she found him looking at her softly. He held her gaze, gentle and genuine, like it was glass he didn't want to break.
She couldn't tell who leaned in first. A moment later she found her lips on his and his hand resting gently on her cheek. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, with Ladybug's hand also rising at one point to caress his face. She couldn't quite tell when and how it ended either-- all she knew was that though their lips were now apart, they still stood with their faces close, both beginning to redden in an exhilarated blush.
It’s not that Ladybug wanted to leave. She just had the sudden realization that if they stayed up there, alone, for a minute longer, there’d be nothing stopping her from kissing him until his father’s party was long since over. And if the lingering look in his eyes was any indication, he felt the same. So her soul cracked the tiniest bit as she pulled away and cleared her throat. “We… we should head back."
It didn’t sound convincing, even to her own ears, but Adrien nodded and smiled ever so slightly. "Yeah."
They didn’t move, though. Instead, Ladybug looked back up at his eyes and found herself returning his soft smile.
Eventually she found it in herself to unfasten her yo-yo, grab Adrien tight, and jump and swing back to his house before anyone noticed their absence.
Marichat
The civilians around the Eiffel Tower dispersed, most of them recognizing they needed to be on higher ground and moving toward the tower's stairs. Everything was looking good. Cat Noir mentally thanked the citizens of Paris for knowing how to respond to akuma attacks by this point.
He immediately rescinded his thanks, however, upon noticing one familiar civilian about to take shoddy cover behind an advertising board. "Come on," he muttered, and leapt toward her.
Marinette yelped in surprise as he wrapped his arm around her waist and took off.
"You have to get to higher ground," he said as he scaled the tower, quickly jumping and climbing to the top. Maybe he didn't need to get her that high up, but he wasn't thinking about logistics at that moment. He was only thinking of guaranteeing his former classmate's safety.
"Stay here," he said once they reached the top. He set her down, then returned to the railing. "I'll come get you and bring you back down when it's over, okay?"
He didn't give her a chance to affirm before he dove down into the fight.
He was only one pun and two sarcastic remarks into the ordeal when Ladybug showed up.
She arrived proudly with a sassy comment of her own regarding the akuma's appearance, then jumped straight to business with a whack to the akuma's head with her yo-yo. Straight to business, like all of their recent battles. He wasn't sure if the public sensed something amiss between the two heroes, but if they did, they hadn't said anything yet. For that he was thankful. He wasn't sure what he'd say if someone asked him what was up.
He really wasn't sure what Ladybug would say.
Ladybug, who apparently still hasn't given up on shyly holding her fist out for a 'pound it' after purifying this akuma. It's not like the pound it was something they'd only done while they were dating, but it still felt out of place given his recent decision.
"I have to go check on someone," he mumbled, looking at neither her eyes nor her hand in front of him. She withdrew it.
"Right," she said. And she seemed more rushed than sad when she said, "I have to go right now anyway. Goodbye," and leapt away.
More rushed than sad. That was probably a good thing. He had no right to wish she was sad about this, anyway.
He made his way back to the top of the Eiffel Tower, thankful that he was now old enough that he didn’t have to take the time to give Plagg a slice of Camembert first. He had to look around a bit, but after a few seconds he found Marinette at a farther corner of the platform, leaning on the railing and looking down at the city below. Before he approached her he looked above her and realized where exactly she was standing. The mistletoe still hung there, at the same spot where he'd kissed Ladybug both as Cat Noir and as Adrien all those years ago. He wondered if Marinette had realized it was up there. If she knew the ghosts that stood where she was standing.
"Everything's good now," Cat Noir said, and Marinette turned around with a breath. "Let me take you back down."
She didn’t nod, or smile, or anything. She just looked at him with an expression he couldn’t discern and said, almost in a whisper, "okay.”
This was strange. He hadn’t seen Marinette in a while-- they kept in touch relatively regularly through an old classmates’ group chat, but it had been a bit since they’d hung out in person-- but he didn’t think she’d change so much from her vibrant and energetic younger self. There had to be something wrong. "Is everything alright?"
Marinette blinked, appearing to return somewhat to her senses. "Everything's fine." And then, for a split second, she appeared to consider something. "Is… everything alright with you?"
Crap. Had she noticed something between him and Ladybug? "Y-yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"
To his chagrin, Marinette clarified just that. "You just… seemed a little off down there. You and Ladybug both. Is… is everything okay between you two?"
Yes, everything was fine. That’s what he told himself every day at least, trying to will it to come true. And it’s what he would tell Marinette. "Everything's fine, Marinette. You don't need to worry about us."
Marinette persisted. "I know I don't need to, but…"
She let the sentence trail off, but her desire to help was clear. Classic Marinette-- always ready to help a friend in need, even when she had things of her own to worry about. He sighed. It would be nice to finally talk to someone about this. So far he’d only talked to Plagg, who was never of any help in romantic situations. So if Marinette really wanted to know what was wrong, then…
"We were dating," he started.
Marinette nodded slowly. "You… were dating," she repeated.
He nodded. "For a while. Over a year, actually."
He didn’t continue, so Marinette prompted him. "And… now you're not?"
He shook his head in resignation this time. "Now we're not."
They let that sit between them for a few seconds, the words tormenting Cat Noir even as he repeated his recent mantra of it’s for the best, it’s for the best, it’s for the best in his mind. Eventually Marinette tentatively asked, "can I ask why?"
Cat Noir sighed. "There was tension brewing. For a while. I don't even know if she felt it, but I did." He ran a hand through his hair. "It just became too much."
Marinette tilted her head and looked at him. "What did?"
Cat Noir didn’t meet her eyes. "Dating someone whose name I don't even know."
At that, Marinette’s gaze shifted downward. "Oh," she whispered.
He felt the floodgates open little by little. "I just couldn't understand what would go wrong if we revealed our identities to each other. I don't think she understood how serious I was whenever I brought it up. I think to her it felt like I was just keeping up an old inside joke." He rolled his eyes. "So I'd bring it up, she'd tease me a little, and I didn't want to be pushy, so I'd let it go. Over and over again. I'd tell myself I could deal with it." He turned to her now, looking for validation. "But is it so weird for me to want to know her? To want to do normal boyfriend and girlfriend stuff? Hiding away on the rooftops and keeping secrets was cute in the beginning, but after a while… I just think we both deserve something more sustainable."
With every word he spoke, the sadness in Marinette’s expression deepened. "You should tell her that," she said quietly. "If she really didn't… didn't know how serious you were… you should tell her. I'm sure she'd understand."
"I was going to," he said. He almost smiled. "I had it all planned out. I was going to tell her exactly how I was feeling, and we would've had a good conversation about it. I know we would've. I'm not sure if it would've ended with us telling each other our identities right then and there, but we would've done it soon." The ghost of a smile that had been on his lips now disappeared entirely. "I like to think so, at least."
A few seconds passed as Marinette processed all this. "I-I'm confused," she said. "That's not the reason you broke up with her?"
He shook his head. "I wasn't going to let a thing like that break us up. Not while we could still talk it through."
"So why, then?" Marinette asked, almost desperately. "Why didn't you tell her all this?"
Cat Noir paused. He’d probably already told Marinette too much, and if he answered this question, he would definitely verge on telling her way too much. But… it did feel good to finally air all these feelings. And it might prove well to tell someone this next piece of information-- particularly someone as clever and keen on problem-solving as Marinette-- because currently the only two people who knew of it were Cat Noir and Ladybug, and, well, look at where they were now.
"She thinks she knows who Hawk Moth is," he said at last.
Marinette’s face changed. Its previous despondency now shifted into surprise. "Oh?" she said.
Cat Noir nodded. "The day after I decided to tell her all that, she called me and asked me to meet up. It sounded like serious business, so I decided to hold off on the feelings for a bit." He gave a wry smile. "And then she told me. She had a lead on Hawk Moth's identity."
Marinette stood there in thought for a moment. "And… what does that have to do with it?" she asked.
Cat Noir exhaled. "She thinks he's somebody I know," he said.
Marinette’s brows raised. "What?"
"Of course, she doesn't know I know him," he said, "because of this whole identity thing. She told me her theory and all her reasons, and I…" He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I got a little mad and told her not to make such strong accusations about people. Which is stupid, I know, because if she had been presenting this theory about anyone else, I wouldn't have felt that strongly about it. But still, it's-- it's always good to have some doubt, and there's 'innocent until proven guilty' and all, and…"
He didn’t continue. He couldn’t continue, he found.
Marinette realized he was finished speaking and picked the conversation back up. "So… are you related? To the person she thinks is Hawk Moth?"
Cat Noir nodded. "Yup," he said with resignation.
"Well… what if she's wrong?” Marinette said, her hands beginning to gesture around in an oh-so characteristic attempt to reason around the situation. “You said yourself, she didn't have any actual evidence, she just--"
"I think she's right."
Marinette stopped. "What?" she breathed.
Cat Noir took a shaky breath. "I think I got so angry because… it made sense. The more I thought about it. I think…" He closed his eyes. This would be the first time he said the words out loud. "I think my father is Hawk Moth."
There was silence. Cat Noir opened his eyes to find Marinette staring at him wide-eyed, her mouth hung slightly open. All of a sudden he felt vulnerable. A very specific crisis of his shoved through, and he couldn’t help but voice it. "What does that say about me, huh?"
Marinette stared at him just a second longer. "What?"
"If she's right, if he really is Hawk Moth, then I let him go all this time without realizing it. Some superhero I am, right?" He looked at her. "That's why I can't tell Ladybug who I am anymore. It's why we're better off apart. How could she ever love me again if she knew?"
At that, Marinette dropped all expression of sadness or confusion and looked at him in complete seriousness. "Hey," she demanded. "Listen to me. Ladybug would never stop loving you because of this." She gripped his shoulders. "She-- she would never stop loving you for any reason, because you're the best thing that's ever happened to her, a-and she's felt so lost without you this whole time you've been broken up, and…"
"Marinette?" Cat Noir said, thrown off by her sudden fervor.
She continued, her speech becoming increasingly frenzied. "Maybe she was just scared to finally know who you were and to have you know who she is, because it might change things and she couldn't risk changing anything because what she had was so perfect. But now she knows it wasn't perfect--" she gestured at him-- "a-and she's so sorry she didn't realize how you were feeling and how much it meant to you, and she's ready to do whatever it takes to have you back in her life, no matter who you are or who Hawk Moth is, because you're the most important thing in her whole entire life. Okay?" Her eyes were wild and tearful as she looked deep into his. "Okay? Do you understand?"
This… hadn't been what he'd expected. "Um…" He searched her eyes for any answers to her strange monologue. "Did you, like, talk to her or something? Did she tell you all this?"
Marinette threw her arms around him in response and sobbed.
“I-it’s okay,” Cat Noir said, mainly out of instinct, his hands hovering over her in uncertainty.
"I'm so sorry," Marinette sobbed into his shoulder.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he assured her, still trying to figure out what on earth was going on.
Her next words, however, took the breath straight from his lungs. “I love you, Adrien,” said her muffled voice through her cries.
Cat Noir froze. "Wha-" He pulled away, his hands on Marinette’s arms. How much had he given away? Sure he’d told her a lot, but none of what he’d said should have tipped her off to his identity, right? The only thing he’d said that may have given her a clue was that the person Ladybug thought was Hawk Moth was his father. But still, she wouldn’t have deduced him as Adrien Agreste unless she knew that Gabriel Agreste was the person Ladybug suspected. But they hadn’t gone public with that suspicion. The only person who knew of it was… Ladybug herself…
He looked into Marinette’s eyes and saw the same eyes he’d avoided when he ended the relationship that had brought him so much joy. The eyes that had pleaded for him to tell her why.
"Ladybug?" he whispered, and his blood ran cold when Marinette nodded.
“It’s me, chaton,” she wept.
Standing there and looking at Marinette’s wrenched face, feeling the awe on his own, felt like forever, but it couldn’t have been. It couldn’t have been, because eventually he stopped thinking about their breakup, about her suspicions about his father, about how much pain they’d both been in since he so stupidly ended things. He stopped thinking and just kissed her.
He kissed her, and she kissed him back, the two of them under the mistletoe they’d done this very same thing under twice before. They’d talk about that later, surely, among a million other things. But for now he just focused on his true love in his arms and the feeling of her lips on his.
Adrinette
"Oh my goodness, what's all this?"
It was a picnic blanket and basket, surrounded by candles and rose petals and Paris night sky. Adrien stood proudly in the middle of the scene as Ladybug approached, her hands up at her cheeks. They framed a wide, tentative smile, and Adrien couldn’t help but feel his chest swell in pride at having been the reason for her expression.
"Just a little celebration," he said, shrugging his shoulders in dramatized nonchalance.
Ladybug giggled and traced a finger along the railing as she walked closer. She stopped and picked up a candle, looking at the flame intently.
"Spots off," she said, and where famed superhero Ladybug stood just a second ago now stood almost-university-graduate Marinette Dupain-Cheng. "You shouldn't have," she said, and he shook his head.
"Of course I should have! You worked so hard this semester. You've only got one more till graduation. You deserve a treat."
It might have been a flicker of light from the candle, but he swore he could see her expression falter for a millisecond.
"One more semester is still kind of a ways away," she said. "Don't you think you're celebrating a bit prematurely?"
Adrien shook his head. "No celebration of my girlfriend. You should be celebrated every day."
He sat down at that, patting the ground next to him in an invitation. She took it. She put the candle down, sitting down cross-legged next to him, her head immediately finding rest upon Adrien's shoulder.
"You're amazing, you know that?" Marinette sighed, leaning further into the crook of his neck. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
Adrien’s heartbeat picked up. His breathing threatened to follow suit, and he made a deliberate attempt to keep it steady. To keep her from noticing anything strange. He had a plan; he couldn’t afford to get nervous and have it fall apart.
He turned his head to kiss the top of hers. “You too,” he murmured into her hair. Then he pulled her into a squeeze. “Now let’s eat all this food I worked so hard to set up, okay?”
She squeezed him back. “Okay.”
Pretty much everybody in their inner circle knew his plan by this point. He’d told her parents first, of course-- maybe he was too old-fashioned, but he felt like he had to get their blessing first. He’d gotten more than that. They’d started drafting plans for the wedding cake that very minute. Next was Alya and Nino. He'd expected the squealing and jumping up and down from Alya, and the bone-crushing hug from Nino, but not so much the squealing and jumping from Nino. Then came Chloé (even over the phone, he could tell she was holding back a rude comment over her general excitement) and Kagami (she gave a still-rare smile and wished him the best of luck).
These were the only people he'd actively told, but soon enough, he was getting texts from practically everyone he knew, asking if he'd done it yet, if they could see the ring, if they could call Marinette yet and congratulate her. Adrien had half a mind to be annoyed at the lack of secret-keeping, but it never seemed as though Marinette had found out. He supposed it was all fine as long as she didn't.
But now he was wishing she had found out on her own. It would certainly take some of the load off of him.
"This is delicious," Marinette said through a bite of blanquette de veau. She swallowed. "Where did you get it?"
He smiled. "Mrs. Cesaire."
Marinette raised her eyebrows. "Alya's mom?" she asked, and Adrien nodded. "I didn't know you ever talked to her that much. How'd you get her to cook an entire meal for you?"
He hadn't had much of a choice. Once Mrs. Cesaire caught wind of his plan, she'd insisted. That was also the reason all the desserts at the picnic were made by Marinette's parents.
Not that he could complain about any of this. All of the food was spectacular.
"She's just very proud of you for being so close to graduation," Adrien said, and the millisecond of an expression change returned to her face, "so she insisted."
Marinette had been about to take a sip of wine, but her hand lowered. "Oh," she almost whispered.
Adrien felt a sting of concern. "Is everything alright?" he asked, and Marinette set the wine glass down to wave her hands in assurance.
"Everything's fine! This is such a lovely dinner, and I have a wonderful boyfriend, and amazing friends and family, and a great life, and a bright future, even if it might take me a little longer to reach it than I had planned! But that doesn’t matter! I’m definitely not a failure at life who’s gonna be in university forever and ever! I’m definitely going to graduate at some point, probably! Most likely! So to answer your question, everything’s fine, and you definitely didn’t waste your time and everybody else’s by arranging this beautiful picnic for your girlfriend who you completely reasonably thought was graduating next semester. Everything is a-okay!” She finished her monologue with a nod and crossed arms.
A few beats of silence followed the strange ramble. Adrien ended it by saying, “...it sounds more like you’re convincing yourself than me.”
Marinette sighed and leaned forward, covering her face with her hands. “I had a meeting with my academic advisor this morning. You know the workshop class I was struggling with?” Adrien nodded. “Well, I thought I’d done well enough on the final project that I’d be able to pass the class, but…” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to have to retake that class next semester, and since it’s a prerequisite for two much more important classes, my entire graduation is going to be delayed! I’m not graduating next semester, I’m going to have to wait a whole other year!”
She slumped into him with a groan, sliding down until her face was shoved into his lap. He petted her hair.
“I’m a faaaaaiiiiluuuure,” her muffled voice moaned.
“You’re not a failure, Marinette,” Adrien said gently. “Stuff like this happens. It’s fine.”
“Fine?!” She shot back up. “Adrien, I’ve never failed a class in my whole life! And now I fail one, and it pushes back my graduation! I was supposed to get an internship next fall, land a real job in the spring, and spend that year saving enough money and experience to work independently! How am I supposed to do that now? Worst of all, how will it look to future customers and business partners of mine if they find out I failed a class in university? My future is gone, Adrien! I’m gonna have to start charging as Ladybug to make a living!”
She moved to slump against him again, but he caught her shoulders before she could. “Listen to me, Marinette,” he said, unable to help a small smile and hoping she wouldn’t take too much offense to it as he looked at her straight on. “You know what’s actually going to happen? You’re going to take the class again next semester, and since you know what to expect from it this time, you won’t struggle nearly as much as you did these past few months. And then next winter, you’ll take all your final classes and graduate with the best final project the fashion world has ever seen. And even if you don’t…”
“Don’t even go there, Adrien Agreste…”
“The world will still be there whenever you do. Your future will still be there. And I will definitely still be there.”
The pout on Marinette’s face had gradually become less anguished and more petulant, but even in its petulance he could see his words breaking through. She looked at him through suspicious eyes and said, “you sure you’re not turned off at dating a failure?”
“I’m not dating a failure. I’m dating you.”
He held out his arms then, and she eyed him suspiciously again before relenting and leaning into him, sighing as his arms wrapped around her.
“I love you,” she murmured.
“I love you too,” he said. And then a sudden surge of bravery, the bravery he’d been waiting for this whole evening, hit him. “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
It was a sentiment they already shared with each other a lot, so he wasn’t discouraged when all she did was nod against him. But he continued. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I want to spend every day giving you the happiness you deserve. Even if it can never compare to the happiness I feel just having you at my side.”
This was a bit more than she was used to hearing, so she lifted her head and looked at him curiously. He took the opportunity of her moving away from him to reposition himself.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he started as he stood on one knee, and Marinette gasped.
“Oh my gosh…” she whispered, eyes wide and sparkling.
“Will you please do me the honor…” He reached into his pocket.
“Adrien,” she choked, hands covering her mouth.
“Of being my-- oof!”
He’d barely opened the ring box when she slammed into him, her arms enveloping him in a crushing hug. And then he found himself shaking with her.
“Yes,” she sobbed. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I will marry you, Adrien Agreste.”
Maybe it was the Cat Noir in him, but he couldn’t help but tease her. “I never actually finished my sentence, you know.”
“Oh, shut up!” she cried, hugging him harder.
“I was going to ask you something completely different.”
“Stop being weird, you’re ruining it!” But the way she kissed his cheek over and over again said otherwise.
He wrenched himself out of her grasp to look her in the eyes-- eyes that were shiny with tears and bright in the candlelight. Her face was split in the widest grin he’d ever seen on her. He could feel the same expression on his own.
He leaned in, and she immediately reciprocated. They kissed, their hands going up to caress the other’s face, their arms wrapping around the other’s back and shoulders. They stayed like that for what felt like, and what Adrien wished could be, forever.
A few months after they’d revealed their identities, the night they’d kissed as Marinette and Cat Noir, they’d taken down the mistletoe that had hung on the rafters of the Eiffel Tower. It had been there long enough, they’d joked, and it’s not like they still needed it to prompt a kiss between them. But tonight, before Marinette arrived to the picnic, Adrien had put it back up. He wasn’t very superstitious, despite what his miraculous may suggest, but it felt like good luck. Symbolic, if nothing else. Later on he’d realize and chuckle to himself that the stupid little plan he’d had all those years ago had worked after all. Just maybe not in the way he’d planned.
But he wouldn’t have it any other way.