Small movement. Something shifts against his side. A rustling of fabric insistently pulling him from the depths of sleep. Assumes that it's just Plagg readjusting- doesn't really want to open his eyes.
A small, feminine whine disrupts the silence and digs into his conscious mind. Plagg didn't sound like that. Feeling ebbs back into his extremities as Adrien wars with himself, trying not to lose his fragile grasp on the little amount of sleep he had been able to get this week.
More movement against his side. Slowly, sleepily, Adrien blinks open his tired, itchy eyes searching for the disruption. Shadows cast from the moonlit widow dance around the room as his vision fights for clarity.
His arm feels numb and when he tries to adjust, he finds that it's pinned. Blinking, looking towards his side, Adrien realizes that he's sitting up- why wasn't he in bed? Straining, he pulls snippets of hours earlier from his memory.
Movies on a small screen. Popcorn being thrown with vigor across laps sharing one blanket. Sleeping bags rolled out on the living room floor. Quiet conversation as the title menu music played a repetitive soundtrack late into the night. Twin pigtails pulled apart and left free to dance across collarbones. Eyelids drooping as Nino finally switched off the glaring light of the television.
With a sudden clarity that comes with waking up, Adrien understood what was happening. He had been invited to a movie night sleepover at Nino's house with their other two best friends. His father had been out of town and Nathalie had agreed, under promise of securing her a couple of Dupain-Cheng pastries, that he could attend.
Reflecting back on the night, Adrien thought that it had gone rather well. There were no surprise Akuma attacks to rush out and take care of, no one had caught sight of the tiny god that he kept securely in his front pocket, and he had actually been able to get to know Marinette a bit better. He was particularly proud of the last one, especially when he remembered their whispered words and her glimmering eyes after the slow, even breathing of Nino and Alya had filled the room. Those were memories that just the two of them would share.
Another small whimper broke him from his reminiscing and had his eyes flitting down to the form that pinned his arm. The shadows that he had originally seen had long since sharpened into visible people and things and he could easily see the mess of bluenette hair that rested easily on his left shoulder. It surprised him how easily the two of them could have fallen asleep sitting up, but with one experimental poke into the soft cushion beneath them, he couldn't exactly fault them either.
Gazing past his friend's head, Adrien could see that Marinette had, at some point, curled her legs up onto the squishy couch and was essentially laying atop him with her head resting into the crook of his neck and her hands stretched to encircle his midriff. His own arm was draped securely behind her and wrapped along the curve of her body; if he wiggled his fingers, he could tease at the exposed skin below her half ridden up t-shirt.
It wasn't an uncomfortable position- if truth be told, his heart hammered traitorously at the thought of being so wound up with this particular person instead of a spotted heroine that he knew- but he worried over what she would think if she were to wake up to them still entangled. They had only just become better friends with each other and Marinette was finally feeling comfortable enough to talk and laugh and joke with him as freely as she did with the rest of their class and Adrien would be damned if he lost that over a selfish need to stay cuddled up against her.
He had just made up his mind to carefully extract himself from their precarious position when a frantic sound escaped from her throat and her body twisted in agitation. She moved in a way that allowed Adrien to see the scrunched up worry that plunged her eyebrows and the corner of her lips into severe lines.
"No." Cracked with sleep, her voice drifted to his ears in little more than a whisper. "Chat, be careful." Marinette shifted once more, body writhing against the confines of the small blanket.
Adrien didn't know what to do- clearly she was having some sort of nightmare about his alter-ego, but was it best to wake her up or to let the dream run its course?
"No, Chat!" The girl's voice trembled with fear before her body jerked violently with one last shout and suddenly she was flailing, trying to stand, her breathing was frantic and Adrien could see her frantic eyes sweeping the dark room trying to get a hold of her surroundings.
"Shhhh, it's okay. Everything's okay." Adrien soothed as he tried to steady her sleep-weak limbs. "I'm here, it's okay."
"Chat?" Marinette's sleep dulled voice chirped up at him as she allowed herself to fall once more into the couch and onto his shoulder. "You scared me. Please stop jumping in front of every Akuma attack to save me." Her words were half whispered and fading quickly, but Adrien was glued to them, trying to find meaning in her nightmare. "One day I'm going to lose you… how can I save Paris without my Chaton? You have to take…" Marinette yawned before pulling her knees back up onto the couch with them. "…better care of yourself."
"My Lady?" The small phrase burst from his lips like a confession, whispered and urgent and seeking solace.
"Mmm," The girl in his arms hummed, eyes closed and blissfully unaware of what she was saying. "Who else Chaton?" A pause as her face scrunches up in thought. "I've got to fly; Tikki will be running out of energy- who would have thought a Kawami would eat so many cookies?"
And there it was. Adrien's grip tightened minutely on the exposed slip of skin that his hand rested on and his heart did backflips within the confines of his chest. She mentioned a Kawami- the only people who knew about the small god like creatures were Miraculous holders- the only female holder that he knew of was the woman who had stolen his heart on their first meeting and who, unbeknownst to him, had been steadily working her way in as her civilian self as well.
Listening to her breathing even out and making sure that Marinette was once more soundly asleep, Adrien leaned his head back against the soft backing of the couch. "Plagg." He grunted tiredly. "Did you hear all of that?"
The small bulge next to his heart inched its way out of the inner hidden pocket that he was fond of and gently placed a small paw on his holder's cheek. "Yeah, kid… how are you doing?"
How was he doing? A myriad of emotions swirled within him as he chuckled. "'Who else', she had said…" trailing off he shook his head, "who else indeed, Plagg? I never- how could I miss her being so close?"
"It's the power of the Miraculous'," an unfamiliar voice squeaked out as Adrien felt something crawling up his hand still residing on Marinette's hip. "It hides and protects you from even those who know you the best."
Gazing down at the small red being, he couldn't help the sigh of content that slipped from his lips. He'd been right… and this little god was 100% proof- the tiny ladybug Kawami was just as cute as he had pictured.
"Hey Tik." Plagg floated down to gently nuzzle their heads together. "It's been a while." Adrien couldn't remember a time that he had seen the cat so affectionate. Sad, gleaming green eyes found their way back to his own after a few more quiet moments of reuniting.
"Tik and I have had kittens before that didn't handle their identities well… after the last time we decided that it would be safer for everyone to keep their civilian lives a secret until we knew nothing bad would happen." Plagg's eyes danced down to their young charge's entwined positions. "I don't think we have anything to worry about with this pair, eh my sweet?"
Intense blue eyes softened upon gazing at Marinette's soundly sleeping form. "If," she faltered over her words, "if we let her know gently. She tends to wind herself into a tizzy and… I'm afraid her feelings are tangled up heavily into both sides of you Adrien."
The small being floated up next to his cheek before carrying on. "I hate to ask, but if you give me some time… I can convince her that it's time to know who her partner is… I just need you to carry on as if nothing has changed."
As if nothing has changed. The words echoed dully around his frantic mind. But things have changed! The moment those damning words had slipped from Marinette's mouth he had known just how fully he loved her. How was he supposed to go back to pretending that she's just a friend?
He thought back to earlier in the night, their heads leaned in close, whispering about Nino and Alya and their entwined hands as they fell asleep, and how he had had to fight the urge to close the distance between them. He thought about her wistful glance, eyes gleaming in the dark, and she looked towards his awaiting lips…. The only thing that had held him back was the image of his partner flaring to life in the back of his mind.
How was he going to be able to pretend that he didn't want her as more than a friend if the person he was using as an excuse was actually just another facet of the amazing woman that made Marinette who she is?
"Kid." Plagg's low murmur broke him from his panic. "Tik's right, if you want to have a chance with your Bug, you need to give her the choice of knowing. If you force the knowledge on her now, she's going to feel betrayed."
Adrien mulled it over. His earlier thoughts of not wanting to mess up the uneasy friendship that he had been building with Marinette came flooding back into his mind and he sighed in resignation.
"I… I can do that Tikki. I can give you as much time as you need so that she won't hate me again." Brushing back the stray bangs from his partner's forehead, his heart gave a painful thump. "I couldn't handle it if both sides of her hated me."
"Oh!" The red god gave a startled gasp as Adrien's words trailed off. "Oh Adrien, she- Marinette, she never hated you- either side of you… gosh, I didn't think- best tell him now so that he doesn't worry." Gathering herself up a bit more, Tikki drew in a slow breath and Adrien felt his own lungs freeze with anticipation. "She likes you. Firstly as Adrien but more recently as Chat… she's just more cripplingly shy than most other people. Please don't tell her I told you; I just- I couldn't have you thinking that she ever hated you."
As far as surprises went, this night was full of them. Enough so that his mind was left reeling and his stomach was permanently filled with butterflies whenever he thought of the girl so securely bundled up into his side. She liked him. Marinette liked him.
And suddenly, every instance of Alya pushing the two of them together came flooding back to him. Every time he tried to talk with her and she reduced into a stuttering, dyslectic, flustered girl. Every flirt that Ladybug would rebuff. Every time she would check up on him after an Akmua attack.
"She likes me." He breathed out reverently. "I- yes- Tikki, you'll have to talk to her quickly because I'm not sure how long I can keep my elation from her… either side of her. I just- wow." He chuckled and wiped his free hand down the side of his face. "Just- thank you. I don't know if you know how much that means to me." The words choked up in the back of his throat and he fought back against the tingling sensation at the back of his eyes.
The emotion was too much for him in the early hours of the morning. He wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh with relief or to cry out of joy… a yawn cracked his jaw in two before he could settle on what he was feeling.
"I should- I should try and get some sleep." Adrien suggested as he glanced at his wrist watch and the two mini gods nodded in agreement. "I-" his earlier plans of extracting himself to give her full use of the couch and moving to his own sleeping bag once more crossed his mind, and yet, he couldn't find the strength in himself to actually follow through this time.
Noticing the subtle internal debate, Tikki spoke up nuzzling his cheek in support. "She wouldn't mind if you stayed where you are. It looks comfy enough to me- although I'd prepare yourself for some stuttering and a lot of blushing once she wakes up." And that was good enough for him.
"Thank you." Adrien murmured as he settled more fully into the soft cushions beneath them and adjusted his other hand to lay across Marinette's forearm. "Hopefully I'll get to talk to you again in a few days Tikki… It was nice to meet you." The ladybug kawami nodded wordlessly, nuzzled Plagg once more, and flew back into the open clutch purse that her holder often wore.
"'Night Kid. Try to catch a few more hours of sleep before everyone else wakes up- I know you probably need it." Plagg floated lazily back into his favorite pocket before yawning, stretching, and nuzzling back into place above Adrien's heart.
Sighing contentedly, he leaned his head back once more onto the sofa, closing his eyes and trying to let his body calm itself down from his adrenaline spike.
It wasn't long until Adrien could feel the beginning pulls of sleep once more. His mind danced between half dreams and the knowledge that he had gotten tonight. The feel of Marinette within his arms helped his tired mind solidify the fact that he had found her- he had found his lady within one of his best friends. His stomach swooped and his heart constricted fully as his mind lazily mulled over how much he loved her- that both incredible and alluring women in his life were actually one- that by some stroke of blind luck, she liked him back.
With a smile turning up the corners of his mouth, Adrien drifted back to sleep, feeling for the first time in a long time that everything would work out.