Adrien POV
I watch the snowflakes fall from the sky. It shouldn't be snowing, considering it's nearing June.
"Is it an Akuma kitty?" Ladybug drops down beside me.
"ARGHH!" I scream and tumble down off the metal beam. I roll through the open air. I struggle to catch onto something. Thankfully I feel a thin line curl around my ankles. I get yanked upwards.
Ladybug drops down onto a lower beam so that she's inches from my face.
"Sorry Chatton." She boops my nose. "My bad. Forgive me?"
"I could never stay mad at you." I flirt back.
"Good because we have other things to attend to." She quickly snaps out of her playful mood. She points a finger at something I can't quite see.
She drops her yo-yo and I land in a hero like pose on the metal beam.
"I AM JACK FROST! THE WHOLE WORLD WILL SUFFER FOR THE ACTIONS OF CHLOE BOURGEOIS!" A victim screams.
"Crud." Lb sighs.
"Ready to rock and roll m'lady?" I hold out my hand.
"No time for chivalry Minou!" Ladybug quickly evades a snowball and swings off the Eiffel tower.
I smile at the way her royal blue hair billows behind her.
"Why so cold?" I yell as I drop into the scene.
Ladybug and I slam down on the roof of a building. One of our favorites, after all, it has the best view and no one can see or bother us.
"Oh Chat, these Akumas are just getting so much tougher." She collapses onto one of the many blankets we've left here. After a thorough inspection, we found out that this building was abandoned. I relax and curl up next to her.
"I'm so tired." She whispers and cuddles up against me.
"Crime doesn't take a vacation. I mean I wish it did." I respond. We both let the words hang in the air for a bit. I listen to her breathing. I kiss her forehead.
"Purr for me, Kitty." She mumbles.
"Anything for my bug." I start to purr. It comes so naturally. I look up at the stars.
"You know Chat, I don't think I could do this without you." She mutters into my ear. I almost growl. Not angrily. My purr instantly becomes more deepened and hungry. She giggles.
"You're crazy." She kisses my cheek. I melt under the warmth of her lips. I roll her on top of me. She brushes away my wild blond hair. She blocks my view of the stars and the skyline, but I don't care. She's all I want to see. I stare up at her cute freckles that dot her nose and then dive into her ice blue eyes.
"You are so beautiful." Is all I manage to say.
"Right back at you." She whispers against my cheek. It sends a shiver down my back.
I lean up to her, my lips are inches away.
BEEP BEEP.
"Aw crap!" I groan like a disappointed toddler.
"I gotta go Chat." She taps her earrings. The dots are starting to fade.
"Just stay. You know I'd love you with or without your mask. How long do I have to wait?" I frown.
"In do time. Curiosity killed the cat." She does a push up off of me.
"Yes, but satisfaction brought it back." I protest.
"Just you wait. Bug out!" She waves a sexy two finger salute.
"See you…" I start but she's already gone.
Mari POV:
I drop down on the roof.
Just in time.
Tikki flies out of my earring.
"That was a close call, Mari! You have to be more careful! What if you de-transformed mid-air? That would've been a disaster you could've broken your leg!" Tikki scolds.
"I'm sorry Tikki, I've been really off my game lately. Maybe it has something to do with me starting to date Chat. I don't know." I rub my temples.
"Maybe…" Tikki frowns.
"Hello, Princess,"
I jump backward.
Chat sits on top of the railing.
"Jesus Christ!" I place a hand over my chest and lean back onto the wall of bricks to try and play it off as smoothly as possible.
"Sorry, Mari." He sits.
"What's up Kitty?" I walk over to where he's perched.
"Not much." He sighs and looks out over Paris.
"Are you feeling okay? You're usually a lot more annoying?" I giggle and place a hand over his forehead. "You don't have a fever."
"Love troubles again." He mutters.
"Seems like that's all we talk about," I whisper.
He's talking about me…
"What's the issue?" I ask.
"I just feel like she doesn't trust me." He sighs.
"Are you talking about LadyBug?" I say already knowing the answer.
"Well...yeah." He nods. The stars twinkle and the moon shines. It lights up his face. I can see that his eyes are wet.
"Maybe she just doesn't think you'll like her for who she is." I run a hand through my hair and pull out my messy pigtails.
"Yeah! I guess I should make sure she does know that I'll love her no matter who she is!" He stands up and pulls his baton out. "Thanks, Marinette you're a great friend!"
He boosts off. Tikki waits until he's far enough before flying out from behind a potted plant.
"Whew! That was close." Tikki brushes the dirt off her small body.
I sink down onto a nearby chair. I cover my eyes.
"Mari, what's wrong?" Tikki flies towards me and prys my hand away from my face. Tears rim my eyes.
"You, you know," I sniff. "This is why I-I don't want to, to tell Chat. What am I to him? A-a friend or someone he's in love with?" I sob.
"Aw Mari, I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Adrien POV
I walk into school. Alya is sitting on the front steps with Nino. Her lips are pressed against his. I decide not to disturb them. Instead, I sit down on the finely groomed lawn and text my lady.
Me: hey bugaboo
I know she probably won't answer for a while. I look up across the turf.
Marinette
She walks down the paved path and onto the university campus. Her hair is tied up into a high messy bun and she's clothed in the school's merch.
She must have woken up late.
She stops for a moment in a patch of sunlight and pulls her phone out of her pocket. Her whole face lights up.
Lb: sup'
I smile down at my phone.
Me: I'm at school.
Lb: shouldn't you be paying attention to a lecture or something.
We decided to share our ages not long ago. We decided that it would be best to know if we were going to get closer. It wouldn't be great if I was dating someone who was twice my age. It would be pretty inappropriate.
It turns out she's my age.
Me: I don't have a class for another ten minutes. I've got time.
Lb: Me neither.
Me: about last night. I'm sorry. I shouldn't pressure you into anything. I'll wait for forever for you. You can reveal yourself when you're ready. I'll reveal myself when you're ready for that too. Just know that I love you with or without the mask.
Lb: thank you Chaton. 3 I should get going.
Me: Alright. I'll see you later for patrol?
Lb: ofc ;)
Me: Bye
Lb: bug out.
I shut my phone off and stand up. I search my surroundings. Again, my eyes land on Marinette. She lies slumped against a tree. I stride over.
"Good morning Mari." I stand above her. I block the sun. Now I can see the bags lining her eyes and the red flush on her cheeks. Her eyes are red and puffy, almost like she'd been crying. She still looks pretty.
"Oh, hey Adrien." She runs a hand over her forehead. She stopped stuttering around me about a year ago. Right after she turned 17.
She yawns. I see a piece of minty gum in the back of her mouth.
"Are you at modeling 101 this morning?" I sit down next to her.
"Yeah." She nods. She doesn't really attend the class. She actually has another class that corresponds with modeling 101. She dresses the models in her own designs and Alya has a class that does makeup and FX. And sometimes Nino's class comes and does music for the catwalk.
"That huge fashion show is coming up soon. Are you ready?" I ask her.
"Yeah, I guess." She stretches out. And rolls onto her stomach. Our school's name is branded on the butt of her sweats. PFA. The Paris Fashion Academy.
"Hey, girl hey." Alya swoops in. Marinette turns to face her. "Damn girl, what happened?" She gasps after she catches a glimpse of the girls face.
"Um, uh- a- a mix of staying up late and um, watching the Titanic." She stumbles over her words. "Yeah, I was working on my project. For the fashion show. It's worth like 25% of my mark."
"Don't give me that B.S!" Alya screams. Marinette swallows loudly. "Is this over that stupid secret boyfriend you have. I swear once I meet him I'm going to beat his ass!" Alya growls. Nearby students turn to look our way.
"When did you get a boyfriend Mari!?" I ask.
"Alya the whole point of a secret boyfriend is that they stay secret." Mari crosses her arms and pulls her bag over her shoulders. "I have to get to class. Mr. Chamblé wanted to have a word with me." She gets up in a huff. "I see you later." She walks off.
"Geez, whatever's going on with Marinette it's really affecting her roughly. She's gotten so moody lately." Alya sighs.
"She looks tired," I add.
"Well, she's talked about this guy before. Obviously, it's not much of a healthy relationship. Mari says there's no trust and things are kept hidden. She says it's more her fault anyway." Alya explains.
"Poor Marinette. She only deserves the best. Whoever this guy is, if he's treating her wrong then maybe she should break up with him." I suggest.
"Maybe. But she won't give up any information about him. So it's hard for me to help her out. She says they still love each other though." Alya wipes a tear from her eye.
"Yeah…" I trail off.
"We should go." She sniffs and then gestures to her watch.
Mari POV
"So what I'm saying is that I want your freestyle piece to be the last piece on the walk." Mr. Chamblé smiles.
"Of-of course that would be an honor!" I smile. I can feel the heavily caked makeup crinkle under my eyes.
"Marinette are you getting enough sleep?" Mr. Chamblé's smile reverses.
"I just had a late night yesterday that's all." I try my best to lie. My mind flashes to the Akuma.
Again it was the actions of Chloe Bourgeois that influenced the victim.
A bunch of students flood in, including Alya.
"Go take your seat Ms. Dupain-Cheng and try to get so sleep tonight." The teacher commands. I nod my head and slip into the second row. Of course, fucking Lila has to sit down next to me. I groan under my breath. Adrien sits a row in front of me and Nathaniel sits on my other side.
"Hey, Marinette." He smiles. Nathaniel is also a makeup major and stylist major.
"Hey, Nath." I greet. I pull my sketchbook out of my backpack. He's been over to my house a couple of times to work on projects and we became closer.
"You look nice today." He ties his longish hair back.
"Oh, really? Thanks!" I smile genuinely. Nathaniel is the type of friend you go to for support or positive affirmations. I trust him. If he says I look nice then maybe I don't look too bad.
"Are you going to patterning and designs next?" Nath asks.
"Yeah but that's not until after lunch." I fiddle with my grey sweater and finally pull it over my head. I'm wearing one of my own designs. It's a tight small white cropped tank top with black buttons down the middle.
"Well um, yeah, that's kind of my point to you want to go grab something to eat?" He asks.
"Yeah, that sounds good." I unbutton the two top buttons. It's pretty freaking hot in the room. It's a wonder my makeup hasn't melted off.
"Okay great, there's a really nice cafe that overlooks the canal." He smiles.
"Great-" I'm interrupted by the teacher.
"Right, class, today we are joined by Designing A. They are here to focus on our end of semester fashion show. Today I will be pairing up designers with models and makeup artist." Mr. Chamblé summons the classes attention. I cross my fingers.
"First group. Charlie, Jennie, and Bryan. The second group, Alya, Adrien, and Sasha. The third group, Gaby, Dina, and Oscar. Forth group, Nathaniel, Marinette and…Lila…"
I tune out.
No! Nononononono! Fuck! Are you fucking kidding.
Nathaniel places a comforting hand on my knee. I feel like crying.
Lila sneers at me.
"Are these groups final. I'd like to change mine!" Lila whines.
"Ms. Rossi, you have to learn how to work with people. In the fashion industry, you'll never know who you'll end up with." The teacher shakes his head.
"I'll give you an hour to talk with your groups and start to plan things out."
The class breaks.
Alya finds me right away.
"Shit! I'm so sorry Mari." She says. Adrien comes over as well.
"That's it. I'm literally going to jump off the Eiffel Tower. I can't do this. Lila is the most difficult person I know!" I pull at my hair.
"Mari it'll be fine, you only have to plan things out with Nathaniel. The only time you need to interact with Lila is when you're taking measurements." Adrien pats my back.
"I'm going to cry." I scowl.
"Marinette! Hurry up and get over here! Let's go! I'm not doing this by myself!" Lila screams from across the room.
I grit my teeth.
"Hey girl keep your cool for now. We can talk at lunch." Alya suggests.
"I can't I'm going out with Nath. Maybe later." I sigh and walk over to the table we chose to use.
I walk out of the room. The class was hellish. There were moments when I seriously felt like ripping Lila's head off. Thankfully Nathaniel stopped me.
"Mari."
I turn around.
"Adrien?" I run a hand over my shirt to flatten it out.
"Are you busy right now?" Adrien asks.
"Well, I was going to go home and shower." I bite my lip. He looks good. His eyes are bright and his cheeks are slightly flushed.
"Oh okay. I guess I'll see you later then!" He waves.
"Later." I wave back and head out.
I walk down the street. I'm almost at the bakery.
"Hey, Mom. Hey Dad." I open the front door.
"Bonjour Cherie." My mom smiles.
"I'm just going to have a shower." I walk upstairs.