"Nino?"
"Hmn?"
Marinette sat up, looking up at her boyfriend of a few months.
How was she going to tell him?
("EVERYONE WILL BE LOVED!" The akuma shouted. "NO ONE WILL EVER BE ALONE EVER AGAIN!" Marinette rolled her eyes- another love akuma. She needed to get out of there before something bad happened and transform so that-
"Marinette, watch out!"
"What the-" Marinette was suddenly tackled by Adrien as a blast came their way, making them miss it.
The reveal had happened on accident a little while ago, and Marinette was still coming to terms with Adrien being Chat Noir.
"You gotta be careful!" He exclaimed.
"I know that!" Marinette replied as they both got up. "Let's just-"
"YOU TWO!" The Akuma exclaimed, shooting a beam at them. "KISS!")
And…
Marinette hadn't been able to avoid that shot, and neither had Adrien.
She was blushing just thinking about it.
"I-I, well…" She scratched at the back of her neck nervously. "I… um, might have kissed Adrien today, during the akuma attack, and… um…"
"You're feelings came back full force?" Nino asked with a knowing smile.
"Wait- how'd you know?"
"Well…" Nino blushed. "The same might've happened more or less with Alya, and I was planning on telling you, but you kinda spoke up first."
"Oh." Marinette blinked, and then laughed. "Well, then, now that we know…" She held up her hand. "Friends?"
"Friends." Nino agreed, grabbing the hand and shaking it. "But, you know…" Marinette paused, looking up. "I might need you to contact Ladybug and Chat Noir for me, in about a week, so that I can get Alya."
"Oh, you have a plan, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, I've been thinking about it ever since the akuma attack." Nino admitted. "Especially since Ladybug and Chat Noir were so invested with each other." Marinette tried not to blush at the mention of that…
("Ok- A-Adrien, we need to stop." Marinette gasped, pushing him away, but unable to let go of his shirt.
"Y-Yeah." He looked a bit sad at it, though, and Marinette could feel her heart squeeze. "Let's go and… yeah."
Together they walked into a private place and transformed. Ladybug didn't look at Chat Noir, knowing that the second that she did the akuma's spell would come back full-force.
"Okay, so another love spell akuma, and this time we've been caught in the blast before we even started fighting." She breathed, going ahead to walk forward. She found it a struggle to not fall under the akuma's influence, especially since he was right next to her.
"I think that the akuma's in her tiara." Chat Noir admitted. "It's a glowing purple color."
"Good idea, Chat." She said, instinctively looking up at him just as they made it out onto the street. It didn't help that Chat had looked down at her right afterwards, that they were both in skin-tight outfits, and then their eyes met, and…)
"So, you in?"
"Definitely." Marinette said, shaking the memories off and giving Nino a fistbump. "I'll get into contact with them, just remember to text me the details."
"Alright." Nino looked at the TV. "Should we continue the movie?"
"Yeah, lets." Marinette agreed, leaning against the couch.
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"Well, how are you milady?" Chat Noir asked, leaning against the rooftop they were on.
"I'm doing good, chaton." Ladybug admitted. "And you?"
"Oh, just the norm." He admitted. "So? Is there any purrticular reason you asked for me to come here tonight?"
"Yeah." Ladybug smirked. "Well… I figured that, if anyone, you should know that Nino and I broke up."
"What?!" He exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes. "What happened?!"
"Mutual agreement." Ladybug waved off. "He realized that he still liked Alya after today's akuma, and I still had feelings for someone else, and we decided to stay friends."
"Is…" Chat paused. "Is it still that mystery boy?"
"Yeah." Ladybug almost winced.
No one had ever told Adrien that she had a crush on him… not even she had, after the reveal.
This was, hopefully, going to be a pleasant surprise.
"Anyway." She continued. "Nino wants to romance Alya, and he wants us to help him do it because he figured that 'LadyNoir' had gone cannon behind the scenes. So? You up for it?"
Chat Noir blushed, and then nodded. Ladybug stood up. "Great, I'll text you the details as soon as Nino sends them to me. Shall we patrol, kitty?"
"Yeah." He said, standing up and stretching, and smiling at her with such a sad-loving smile that Ladybug wanted to kiss him then and there. "Let's patrol."
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A week later, and they had everything set up.
They would go on a double date- Ladybug and Chat Noir with Nino and Alya.
Of course, Alya didn't know that.
Alya was also notified of Marinette and Nino's break up, and was honestly surprised that they had.
Anyway, Chat Noir would pick up Nino, and Ladybug would pick up Alya.
(And, Chat Noir didn't know it, but 'Marinette' and 'Adrien' would be having a date night while this was going on- a spontaneous one, of course.)
That…
That was actually the main reason why Ladybug was nervous. What if he had moved on? Or thought that she was toying with his heart? Maybe even thought that he was a rebound?
She didn't think that she could live if he thought of her that way.
Shaking the thought off, Ladybug stopped by Alya's window and knocked on it.
Alya opened it a moment later, and Ladybug waived when she gasped.
"Oh. My. Gosh."
"Leave your phone here, I have a special thing planned. You up for it?" Ladybug asked.
"Am I?" She asked, excitement growing. "Am I?! You have no idea, this is the most exciting thing ever! Oooo, just give me a second!" Alya rushed off to go and put on some shoes and grab a jacket shrugging it on. Then she ran back over to the window, and Ladybug helped her up. "What are we doing?"
"Well…" Ladybug blushed. "Chat decided to ask me out on a date tonight, but he also said that it's something that we need to be in suit for. I told him that I wouldn't go unless it was a double date, and he suggested that I take one of the people that I know who are single, and he'd take one of the single people that he knew, and we'd go on the date together. If that's alright with you, of course."
"Sign me up!" Alya cheered. "A mystery date and hang-out time with Paris' superheroes?! I can't believe it!"
Ladybug laughed. "Alright, hold on!"
It didn't take long for Ladybug to swing them up to the Eiffel tower- Chat Noir and Nino had yet to show up, so Ladybug decided to show Alya her favorite views from up there.
"Do you know who he's bringing?" Alya asked.
"Maybe, he said that he was a friend of his who had recently broken up with a girl, but we haven't introduced each other to our friends yet." Ladybug answered vaguely. A clink later, and Chat Noir appeared carrying Nino along with him. Alya's jaw dropped.
"Nino?!"
"Alya…?" Nino half asked, aware that he wasn't supposed to know that it was her, but failing at covering it up. Ladybug almost face-palmed.
"Wow, bugaboo." Chat Noir said, winking at her. "I didn't know that you were getting the ladyblogger."
"Nino, how on earth do you know Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Alya asked.
"Uhh, Marinette knows them…?" Nino half-asked again, and this time Ladybug did facepalm. "I guess that she told them about us…"
"I told her that DJWIFI wasn't gonna be cannon anytime soon." Alya grumbled, huffing as she folded her arms. Chat Noir sent Ladybug a sympathetic glance and she shrugged.
"You guys ready?" Ladybug asked, looking between the two.
"As I'll ever be."
"Then let's go!"
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It wasn't a complete disaster.
And Ladybug was saying that with as much optimism that she could gather.
It had rained- rained, and then there was a bulgarly that they had to stop, and then Alya somehow twisted her ankle.
Or, at least, she was trying to convince herself that it was for the better.
It wasn't working.
"I am soooo sorry." Ladybug apologized to Alya as she and Chat Noir dropped Nino and Alya off at Alya's house.
"Don't worry about it." Alya brushed off. "It was still loads of fun!"
"Still." Ladybug insisted.
"I'll take care of Alya." Nino said once they reached her house. He smiled at the two heroes gratefully. "Why don't you to continue on without us?"
"Are you sure that you're okay?" Ladybug asked again.
"I'm fine- you two go and have fun." Alya replied.
After being completely sure, Ladybug and Chat Noir ended up at the Eiffel tower.
"Well, that was fun." Chat Noir said after a moment of silence. His voice held a tinge of sadness to it, that didn't escape her notice.
"It was a disaster." Ladybug corrected.
"You always think that anything that doesn't go to plan is a complete disaster." Chat Noir pointed out.
"True." She laughed a bit, leaning against him as she sighed. "I really want them to get together. I know how much Alya loves Nino."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I knew before I started dating him." Ladybug sighed. "I always felt guilty about it."
"Why?" Chat Noir asked.
"Well… I wanted to try and get over someone." She admitted. "I thought that getting over my feelings would help me get over my emotional turmoil, and when he asked me out I said yes."
"Again with your mystery guy." Chat Noir laughed a bit, but she could tell that it was strained. "Why'd you want to get over him?"
"Well… I thought that I wasn't enough for him." Ladybug admitted. "I had seen him in a certain light for so long, that when I saw something that helped me get to know him better, I realized that I was actually hurting him unintentionally for doing that. And I was too scared to bring it up with him at the time, that I just…" She paused. "Went."
"Hmn…" Chat Noir smiled down at her, though she could tell that it was sad.
"When are you gonna talk to him about it?" He asked.
"I am." She answered softly. She watched as his eyes narrowed in confusion.
"But you're not calling or texting anyone." He said.
"I'm not." She confirmed.
"'I am' is present tense, milady." Chat Noir pointed out. "If you have, you should have said 'I did', and if you meant after this, you could have said 'I will'."
"I know that." She stated, shifting so that she could get a better look at him. "And I assure you that I am talking to him about it."
"Is there someone else up here?" Chat asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked around, and Ladybug facepalmed.
"Chat." She said. "Look at me."
Chat Noir did so, mouth open to ask her what on earth she was talking about, when she leaned in and kissed him.
And then he lost all coherent thought.