God. Marinette's head was pounding. She had woken up with this stupid headache and it had only gotten worse. It felt like multiple drills were drilling into her head. Ever single sound felt 20 times louder and she was just plain agitated.
"Girl, are you okay?" Alya asked. What the does it look like?!
"I'm fine. Just tired" she replied through grit teeth. Alya frowned but turned her attention back to her work.
The lunch bell sounded. She almost screamed, was it always that loud?! She shoved her books into her bag and followed her friend out of the classroom.
Her, Alya, Nino and Adrien were sitting on a bench talking.
"I honestly don't see what's so bad about puns!", she almost groaned. She didn't even care that she was sitting right next to Adrien right now, she just wanted silence, and now they were talking about flipping puns. Her mind was filled with Chat's voice, her partner's stupid puns were attacking Marinette's brain. That voice, all those insufferable Godamn puns, her head was going to explode, she couldn't deal with this right now. For the first time she was actually glad when the conversation turned to Ladybug, that she could deal with.
"Chat Noir makes puns all the time!" Not this again!
"But no one likes Chat Noir's puns!"
"I think they're purretty good!"
"Oh my God, you did not just make a Chat pun!"
"Would it be such as catastrophe if I did?"
"Dude, just stop!"
"Why can't mew all just apawreciate a purrfectly good Chat pun!". That was it. Everyone had they're breaking point. At some point, Marinette had put her arms around her head, her hands were over her ears and her eyes were screwed shut tightly.
"Just shut up, kitty! I have had enough of your dumb puns!" She hissed. Only when she felt Adrien stiffen beside her did she realize what she had said. She had barely whispered it, and to her relief, neither Alya or Nino had heard her. But the blonde beside her definitely had. A wave of panic hit her. Oh shit, oh shit. You said that to Adrien! You are so screwed!
"Marinette?" He whispered. All the blood rushed to her face and she sat bolt upright, ignoring her pain in favour of the panic
"I-uh-w-what, I mean-I didn't-you-uh-I-I-um" their two friends were completely oblivious to what was happening on the other side of the bench. Adrien was staring at her with wide eyes, she couldn't read what emotions were going through his body. She knew her face was bright red and she stared into Adrien's eyes for a second. That green almost reminded her of- No. There was no way- Adrien couldn't be- Chat.
"I'm not feeling too well, actually. I'll see you later!" She called to no one in particular as she ran away. She was gone before any of her friends could register what had happened. Alya stared after where her friend had gone and just shook her head. That girl.
Marinette rocked back and forth on her bed. Maybe he didn't think much of it. Maybe he just thought it was something weird I do, I do act pretty weird around him. But then he might think my weirdness has gone to the next level! And then he'll never like me! Or maybe he just played it off as me feeling unwell. Alya had texted her as soon as she was on her bed, asking what had happened. She had bit her lip and texted back that she had had a headache that had just been getting worse all day. Presumably Alya had told that to Nino and Adrien, so maybe he thought she had said something weird because of that? She groaned and lay face down on her bed.
"Tikki, what am I going to do?" Her kwami flew over to her side and pat her head comfortingly.
"It'll be fine Marinette. I'm sure everything will work out just fine". Adrien's eyes flashed in her mind. The way they had looked. The emotions she couldn't decipher running through them. And they did really remind her of-No! She sighed again and ran her fingers through her messed up pigtails.
Adrien lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had sounded just like- no, Marinette couldn't be... She had called him kitty. She, Marinette, had called him, Adrien, Ladybug's nickname for Chat. Maybe she had been being sarcastic, meaning to stop with the Chat puns? Yeah, that was probably it. But, no. No one else knew his Lady called him, well, Chat, kitty. Maybe Alya had heard her say it, Marinette is her best friend, so it makes sense that she would tell her. But it wasn't on the Ladyblog, so... He got up and went to his computer. I should probably just check...
Nope. There was no mention, ever, of the nickname. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Marinette does have Ladybug's pigtails, but I always assumed that was a fan thing. Although, she isn't actually that much of a fan of Ladybug's, and as far as I can remember, Marinette had those pigtails on the first day of school, before Ladybug even showed up. Wait- what if you added spotted ribbons around Marinette's pigtails... They weren't like Ladybug's pigtails, they were identical to Ladybug's pigtails. He dropped the pen he had been holding. Hurriedly, he found an image of Marinette and opened it up. Now, for a bit of photoshop... Step by step his Lady's costume was added onto Marinette's figure. Adrien stared at his computer screen in disbelief. No way. There was no way. Yet, it made so much sense! She always disappeared when there was an akuma, always showing up afterwards with a terrible excuse, something he hadn't really paid attention to because he was always coming up with his own terrible excuse... How had he not seen it before?! She sat right behind him! This whole time, his Lady was his shy classmate who sat behind him in class. He laughed. Plagg gave him a weird look and flew over to the screen.
"Well, looks like you finally figured it out, loverboy" he quipped.
"Hang on, you knew ?". Plagg snorted.
"Of course I knew. But I'm not allowed to tell you, and if I did, Tikki would have my head"
"Tikki?"
"Ladybug's- or I can finally say- Marinette's kwami". Adrien just laughed again.
Ladybug swung across the rooftops, finally landing on the Eiffel Tower after patrol. Chat Noir slid down next to her. He hesitated before opening his mouth.
"You know, my Lady, my friends and I were talking about puns today". She sighed.
"Are they all as obsessed with terrible puns as you?" He held his paw over his heart in mock pain.
"You wound me, my Lady. But no, actually quite the contrary, they seem to despise purretty good puns, just like you". He watched her reaction. There was a flicker of something before she laughed.
"Chat, please don't start with the cat puns!". He smirked.
"Would it be such a catastrophe if I did?". This time there was definitely something there. She stared at him for a minute. Looking at his eyes.
"Chat, just stop" she whispered, still staring at him. She had given him the perfect opening.
"Why can't mew just apawreciate a purrfectly good Chat pun" he whispered back, searching her eyes. Marinette's eyes. She stared at him, in disbelief, in fear, in shock, but in definite recognition. He grinned at her.
"Hey, Marinette", he whispered, his entire body was tense. Please, please, please.
""Adrien" she breathed out, still staring at him. A wave of relief washed over him. He stared into her bluebell eyes, and she stared back into his. It started to rain, not that either of them noticed. A lot of realization hit Marinette in that moment. But something, probably the confidence of the suit, made her lean in and kiss him. Adrien stiffened, but immediately relaxed. He deepened the kiss a fraction, cupping her cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, which he responded to by wrapping his arms around her waist. The kiss said more than words could. She pulled away first and rested her forehead against his, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes.
"Marinette, I love you". He said. He probably shouldn't have, but it came out before he could really think. The response was a laugh. A beautiful, sweet, joyous laugh, and another kiss.
"I love you too, kitty" she whispered. His heart soared at those words. And even the fact that it was raining and they were both drenched by this point couldn't dampen his mood. There was a resounding beep that sliced through the night air. Chat was ready to let his Lady swing away when she grinned at him.
"Come on, minou" she said, grabbing his hand. He stared at her perplexed, she giggled. Next things he knew he was being dragged across rooftops, barely keeping his balance. At one point he realized they were headed to her bakery and smiled.
The two jumped in the window just as their transformations wore off. They stared at each other, sopping wet and grinning like idiots. Marinette knew her floor would be drenched, but she didn't care.
"Can I have some Camembert? I'm starving !" Came a whiney voice from beside them, Adrien was about to snap at his kwami when Marinette giggled.
"You're so cute!" She said, cupping the black kwami and bringing him closer for inspection. He looked gobsmascked. Adrien tried not to laugh. Marinette gave her kwami a mischievous smirk.
"Tikki! So this is the Plagg you're always going on about!" The ladybug kwami looked like she was blushing (can kwami's blush?).
"M-marinette! I do not always talk about Plagg!". She shot her kwami a look.
"Oh? Then how do I know his name? And how do I know he loves Camembert? And how can I describe every aspect of his personality? And how can I tell you at least a hundred different stories about him?". Tikki looked bright red, even more than before.
" I-you-he-you-b-but, I mean-i never-you-" Marinette laughed.
"Tikki, get him some Camembert from the fridge downstairs, please". Tikki gratefully fazed through the trap door. Plagg following her. Marinette laughed again. Adrien smiled at her.
"She really does go on about him, you know. It's adorable." Adrien just laughed. She jumped up.
"I'll grab some towels".
Adrien had left after maybe an hour, saying he should probably get home. He had called Plagg and Chat Noir had climbed through her window. Marinette lay on her bed, smiling. Tikki lay beside her. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
Adrien had detransformed in his bedroom and gone to bed fully clothes. Plagg had called him a love-sick fool and Adrien teased him about Tikki. He had gone to sleep pretty quickly too.
Marinette was early into school for once. Alya was still interrogating her about it. She just shook her head and said she got a good night's sleep. Then Adrien and Nino walked in and sat down. Alya immediately started asking Mnino about modifying soundtracks for the Ladyblog and Adrien turned to face Marinette.
"Morning" he greeted with a smile. Marinette smiled back.
"How are you?"
"I'm good, great, actually, and you?"
"Same here". Adrien glanced over to Nino and Alya, then back to Marinette. She understood what he meant and sent him a look saying 'No. Don't you dare ', which he had ignored, leaning up and giving her a peck on the lips. She tried to glare at him, but her blush combined with the smile she was failing to push down didn't help.
And then they were surrounded by noise.
"Oh my God!", followed by a phone taking photos.
"Dude!", followed by a pat on the back.
" Adrikins?! ", a shrill scream.
Lots of cheering, inaudible words, wolfe whistling, and squeals. Marinette really tried to fight down the blush that was trying to attack her face. Adrien was smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck, a red tint on the tips of his ears and his neck. She flicked him on the head playfully. Earning another set of squeals.
"Are you two dating now?"
"When did that happen?!
"#Adrienette! I ship it!"
"You two are so cute!"
Marinette sighed and buried her face in her arms. Adrien laughed and she shot him a glare that made him laugh harder. There was a loud bang and Chloé stomped out of the room, muttering under her breath, followed by a hasty Sabrina. Marinette and Adrien locked gazes, and burst out laughing. Then the teacher walked in and no one had a chance to say anything. The two ignored the nudges and looks their friends were giving them. Every now and again, when the teacher would turn around to write something on the board. Adrien would turn around and meet Marinette's gaze, and they would smile.
A/N: So, what did you think? This was just an idea for a cute one-shot that hit me. Please review, I want to know your thoughts. -Crys