"You can thank me later," Alya blew on her cell phone as if it needed to cool down.
Marinette shrugged, "I can thank you now, thanks, Alya."
Alya squinted, "Well, that's not the reaction I expected… Did you not hear me?! I basically just set up a date for you, with the guy you like! Then again, like is an understatement. You love him to death!"
"I guess, I mean I dunno about love," Marinette chuckled.
Alya nearly dropped her phone, "OK. We need to talk…. What's going on?"
Marinette sighed, this was gonna be hard to admit, "Well, I mean c'mon, what's the point in being stuck in devotion to someone who doesn't even notice your feelings? What I'm getting at is… there's someone else I like too."
Alya stared blankly. Had her ears deceived her? She could hardly mutter anything but, "H-who?"
"This is gonna sound crazy… but, I think I like Chat Noir," Marinette held her breath, if that wasn't the stupidest sounding thing she'd ever said, she didn't know what was.
"What?! And you never told me?! How can you like Chat Noir? You hardly know him, he rescued you like… Once? Don't tell me this is about that wannabe hero team-up you guys did? Marinette… stick with Adrien, I know you're more down to earth than that. Be realistic, isn't Chat Noir into Ladybug anyway? And you'd be surprised what can change in a guy, you don't know how Adrien feels about you yet," Alya glared at Marinette. What was the saying? If looks could kill…
"And you're still going on that date with Adrien by the way!" Alya pointed threateningly at Marinette.
Marinette nodded. But this was crazy timing to finally have time alone with Adrien, and just what exactly had she told him for him to agree to it?
It was Sunday, Marinette was strolling through the park. There was Adrien, just where Alya said he'd be.
Marinette licked her lips, "Um, hey, Adrien."
Adrien looked up, he'd been peering into his shirt for whatever reason. Maybe to check the materials tag? Maybe Alya had mentioned something about fashion, and gotten Adrien to help with some tips?
"Hey Marinette. Go ahead, sit down," Adrien turned bright red.
Marinette sat on the wooden bench, it creaked almost as awkwardly as this meetup had been so far.
Adrien cleared his throat, "Alya told me there's something that I have to talk about with you."
"Well, I don't see why it would be particularly important, but I'll admit I'm surprised she managed to get you here for something like this," Marinette was assuming she was correct that they were about to talk about fashion.
"What?" Adrien looked both offended, and guilty.
"Isn't this abo- wait, what did Alya tell you to set this all up?"
"Well…" Adrien brushed the back of his hair, "To be honest, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Alya said she was sick of seeing me clueless… so went ahead and told me you… kind of, um, like… me."
Marinette felt her hands dampen, which made her feel worse. Her heartbeat deafened her ears. If she could've passed out on command, she would have, but unfortunately, her mind was a little more abusive, and kept her awake through thick and thin.
"SHE TOLD YOU THAT?! What did you- oh… this explains why she seemed so upset at what I said earlier..."
Adrien raised an eyebrow, ready for the subject to drift off and give himself time to calmly approach the rest of the conversation, "What did you say?"
Marinette froze, "Oh… well…" Adrien's eyes probed, "I mean, it's not that I don't still like you, I do… but,"
"But?" Adrien was beginning to feel disappointed in himself. In being so blind, he'd allowed Marinette's feelings for him to fade, while his feelings had only begun to grow…
"Well, I'm sure you could understand if I had feelings for more than one person, right?"
More than ever. Adrien nodded.
Marinette cradled her hand, her stomach was starting to hurt, of all the things she'd wanted to say to Adrien, "Then, yeah, that's it. I like someone else, it's kind of on the fence, but sometimes it seems like I like them more… not that that couldn't change or anything, I'm probably just being strange. It's easy to confuse comfort and appreciation for love… but, maybe- I don't know, I should shut up."
Adrien sighed, partially relieved that he wasn't the only one, "It's alright, I understand. Mind if I ask, who it is?"
Marinette bit her lip, "Promise you won't laugh?"
"Of course," Why would he laugh at her?
"Um… it's, oh…" Marinette covered her face, "...Ch-Chat Noir…"
Oh my God. What- what the hell was he supposed to say now?! Say something… she'll think you're trying not to laugh, but this isn't funny… this is, incredible!
"Really? Well… but I like y-" No… he can't shoot himself in the foot. Someone actually... liked Chat Noir… he wasn't going to let Adrien Agreste ruin that, not again. He knew Ladybug had some sort of feelings for him, Adrien that is, he seemed so important to her when Volpina was around, that it got in the way of her common sense. And when Jackady was attacking his house, and she'd intruded during his "shower", he was almost certain she'd made getting dressed an option. No, no, no! He couldn't think about that now! Why did he have to blush at everything? He couldn't help but feel that those were the feelings that were keeping Ladybug from acknowledging Chat Noir's feelings, as genuine. And that only meant, that Ladybug preferred him as Adrien. Adrien… as in, the suppressed, daddy's puppet. She liked him, when he wasn't as happy and free as he could be.
Much like, a baby who prefers to play with the box; the beautiful, colorful packaging, and who is unamused by the toy inside. It was, too much work, there wasn't immediate pleasure with the toy. Often there was assembly required, many scattered pieces, a mess. There was so much more to do with the toy! But no patience to wait for the toy to be ready to enjoy, no faith to watch a little longer for the toy to give more joy than imaginable.
Marinette… "I actually am- I actually wouldn't be surprised if he liked you too, Marinette."
Marinette lifted her face from her hands in surprise, "What makes you think that?"
Adrien chuckled a small puff through the nose, "You're smart, incredibly sweet, funny… and you're, beautiful. How could he not? You're a princess."
Marinette forgot it was normal to respond when someone speaks to you. What was speech again? Her throat squeaked as her mind turned until it burned itself out.
Adrien got up, half of him embarrassed, and the other half unable to restrain any longer from grabbing Marinette and kissing her, "If you ever see him again, make sure you tell him. You have a bad habit of telling everyone but the person who really needs to hear it." He walked away.
Marinette, crippled and glued to the bench, found herself unable to stop him.
Adrien went home early in the afternoon, with nothing on his schedule. Normally, this would have been the time to go on patrol, but Ladybug had told him she was meeting up with someone. Well, he had been too, but it was cut shorter than expected. Now what?
Actually, he knew just what.
Marinette watered the flowers on her roof, she had set aside time in her schedule for, what? A ten minute talk? A complete disaster of one at that. Of course, Adrien probably just wanted to get it all over with as fast as possible. His rejections sure were… romantic.
"Marinette!" Tikki scolded.
Marinette jerked her head up, the potted flowers were being flooded as the watering pot continued to pour, "Oh! Thank you Tikki, sorry I'm a little out of it."
"No kidding…" Tikki shook her head, then suddenly hid in Marinette's jacket.
Marinette looked in front of her, a black figure hopping and running across rooftops, "Chat Noir?" she said as two, paw-like boots landed on the railing at the edge of the roof, "What are you doing here?"
"Well… you know me. When My Lady's not around to play, I come to you. Ah, not that you're a fallback, you're great, really. Man… that came out wrong," Off to a great start…
"No it's ok, believe it or not, I wanted to talk to you," Maybe it was fate, "I promised someone I'd tell you something as soon as I saw you again…"
Chat Noir jumped down in front of Marinette and leaned teasingly on his staff, "You aren't one to break promises…"
Marinette inhaled and exhaled deeply, she looked Chat Noir dead in the eye, "Chat," for someone he knew liked him, Marinette was awfully calm compared to when she was around Adrien, how strange, "I know I don't really act like I appreciate you enough, but, you're one of the kindest people I've ever met, and you're brave, protective, fair, loyal… under all the flirtiness, I could see you really cared. I liked to get angry at you when you teased, because I preferred it over feeling flustered. I'll admit I didn't understand it at first, but I've fallen for… you."
Adrien heart skipped a beat, but Chat Noir felt the need to milk it further, "Impossible, I'm always there to catch you."
"No, I meant, I like- I'm in love with you," Marinette put on her most serious face.
ABORT ABORT ABORT. Chat Noir thought he was prepared, but he wasn't ready for that word. That damned word. Love. A shiver crawled down his spine. And then he surprised himself,
"I love you too, Princess," He leaned closer to Marinette, who looked stunned. Princess? Did he call her Princess!? Hadn't Adrien-
Chat Noir pressed his lips against Marinette's. His mouth tingled. Something felt familiar. But how? He'd never kissed Marinette… he'd never kissed anyone, he'd never been in a relationship. For some reason, he couldn't shake it. It was like his brain was trying to tell him something. His mind kept flashing something on a loop, over and over. A memory that he couldn't stop thinking about. He couldn't stop thinking about… Alya. He saw her, speaking to him, but no sound came out. Her lips moved silently. Why would kissing Marinette bring up Alya? It wasn't vivid enough to be a memory of Alya a few days ago, confessing Marinette's feelings for her. And she wasn't at school anyhow… where was she? That's right! Valentine's day. Chat Noir had run into Alya that day after defeating another akumanized victim, and being the nosy loud mouth that she was, asked Chat Noir about the kiss he had shared with… Ladybug. He'd known about the kiss all these months, but had kept quiet, knowing that if Ladybug had wanted anything or felt anything of it, she would have told him herself. He didn't remember kissing her, but it seemed he remembered the sensation. The, taste, if you will. Ladybug was the only girl he'd ever kissed… but then-
Chat pushed away abruptly from the kiss, that seemed to have lasted a decade, and looked into Marinette's eyes. She stared with equal curiosity. They had drifted and gotten lost in thought, like watering flowers.
Chat whispered, nearly inaudible, "I swear I've kissed you before… but I haven't."
"Chat, you've always called me Princess, since we first met…"
"How could I not?…" He answered automatically, while staring at her lips, "You're a princess."
Chat's words echoed in Marinette's mind.
They stared at each other when they were more present in their own minds than they were with what was right in front of them.
It had to be, they thought.
Marinette was hesitant, "...Adrien?"
"Ladybug…" he sounded more amazed than unsure.
"Yeah," Marinette nodded, Tikki had no need to hide any more, Chat looked at Tikki like she was the greatest thing he'd ever seen… well, right next to a certain someone. Marinette needed no reassurance from Chat Noir to know he was Adrien, when she said his name, he had a look in his eye. She was so overjoyed, she wanted to scream out to Paris. She really was lucky.
"Adrien! Oh my God, you're Chat Noir! You're Chat Noir!" Marinette jumped into Chat's arms.
Chat pressed his index finger against his sly grin, "Yes, yes, but we don't need the rest of Paris to know, My Lady."
"What set you off? What makes you think you've kissed me before…" Marinette furrowed her eyebrows.
"Valentine's day. You mean you've forgotten?" Chat hadn't even had any memory of it at all, and yet-
Marinette pointed at her words, "Refresh my memory."
"Ah, you're in charge," Chat wrapped his arms around Marinette, and kissed her again.