More notes at the bottom! Just want to say thank you again to Amy for being the best beta out there 3


The night's wind sweeping off the ocean was cold and salty as Adrien waited on the boardwalk by the shore. He rubbed his arms with his hands as the chill air seeped through his hoodie, causing him to shiver slightly. With a quick glance at his surroundings, he gave a soft sigh before pulling out his phone, checking the time and noticing only fifteen minutes had passed since he had last checked.

In his haste to get Ladybug to agree to another meeting, he had forgotten some key details they probably should have ironed out beforehand. Things like time and exact location along the expansive boardwalk probably would have saved him from freezing to death like he was now. With another sigh, he put his phone back into his pocket and began his third walk to the other end of the boardwalk, his feet dragging with every step.

To get his mind off of his predicament, he let his mind wander to the day's earlier escapades. After returning so late last night, he had expected to be bombarded with questions the moment he walked into the bustling room. He was surprised to have not been missed at all.

Nino had kept himself pleasantly busy on his phone while Alya snuggled up to his side, asleep. Kim and Juleka had apparently taken control of the Wii U and were singing their hearts out to 'Wake Me Up' by Evanescence when he walked in. Rose, Mylene, and Nathanael had retired for the night, leaving Ivan, Alix, and Max to play a very intense game of 'Exploding Kittens'.

Nino had greeted him with a wave, signaling with a huge grin on his face to the sleeping girl on his shoulder, to which Adrien answered with a thumbs up. His best friend's smile only grew wider as he looked back down at his companion, a small blush dusting his cheeks as he watched her even breathing.

Adrien crossed the room to the small mini-fridge beneath the desk, silently grateful they had gotten a room which had one in the first place, and began stocking it up with the goodies he'd bought. With the snacks all put away, he grabbed his bag from beside his bed and headed for the bathroom, using the excuse of wanting to change his clothes into something warmer.

He locked the door behind him before he placed his bag on the countertop, barely even having the zipper pulled halfway open before his kwami shot out, latching onto his face and giving a rather loud wail.

"Adrien! I'm starving to death! I'm withering away before your very eyes! I can't go on!" Plagg cried out as he rubbed his face into Adrien's cheek.

"Shhh, Plagg, be quiet! Everyone's still in the other room," Adrien hissed, as he finished opening his duffle bag and reaching inside for a bag of exceptionally aged gouda.

"Oh, please. Not like they could hear anything over that wailing Kim calls singing." The small cat made a disgusted noise before zipping down to grab at the cheese through the ziplock bag, making small, pathetic noises as he tried helplessly to get at his prize.

With a sigh, Adrien popped open the top and suddenly the room was filled with the retching smell of cheese. Before he could even think to reach his hand inside and remove the morsel, Plagg had already zipped his way in, picked up the decadent delight, and zipped back out to spin graciously in the air with a purr. Adrien watched with a smile as his kwami did his little 'happy cheese' dance mid air, stuffing his face full before attempting to hum to a tune all his own.

Now that his partner was otherwise sated, he could focus on prepping for bed in peace. Unzipping and removing his sweater, he carefully folded the article before placing it on top of the counter, followed shortly by his over and under shirts. As he moved to unbuckle his belt, he was stopped by a muffled voice above his right ear.

"Wha's sat?" Plagg asked, using his tail to point at a particular spot above Adrien's collarbone, his hands and mouth still full of cheese. There was a large gulp as he shoved what food he had left in his mouth down his throat. "Is that…a hickey?!" Plagg screamed.

Adrien's hand shot up from his waistband to immediately cover the spot as if he'd been stung, but the damage was done, his reaction only further cementing his demise. The cat's green eyes narrowed as a smirk split his face, watching as the boy turned toward the mirror to remove his hand and investigate the mark in detail.

It sure was a hickey, all right. Deep and dark, a purple line wrung around the outer circle and small dark red dots formed the golf-ball sized mark's center.

'Ladybug's mouth sized mark.' Adrien thought, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he poked the blemish to investigate its level of soreness. Slowly, a pair of black cat ears and slitted green eyes slid into view above his shoulder, the corners of his devilish cheshire grin apparent despite half of his face still being hidden from sight.

"Ladybug did that, didn't she?" Plagg got his answer in the dark blush that blossomed across Adrien's face and crawled down his neck, his prodding finger stopping dead in its tracks. The kwami zipped out of arm's reach before his charge decided that he'd had enough of his playful antics.

"Figures. I mean, not like there's anyone else in that big empty head of yours," he said, shrugging his shoulders and returning to his cheese as if nothing new had happened.

"Wait…that's it?" Adrien asked, turning to his kwami with confusion and disbelief written across his face. "That's all you're gonna say? No mocking, no name-calling, no 'bug bite' puns?"

"Oh! 'Bug Bite'! That's a good one!" The kwami laughed to himself, his tail flicking back and forth as he took another large bite. Noticing the blond boy was watching him closely, one eyebrow cocked and hands on his hips. Plagg sighed dramatically, turning his attention away from his dinner reluctantly.

"Listen, kid. You've had the hots for Ladybug since the day you met her. If anything, I'm more surprised you lasted this long without jumping her." The cat god snickered at the deep blush that sprouted again on Adrien's face, easily entertained by his charge's humiliation. "And hey, you kept me out of it. So kudos for that."

With that, Plagg tipped his gouda towards Adrien like it was a glass of wine before shoveling the remainder into his mouth in one large bite, the room filling with purrs as he floated around in glee, rubbing his cheeks.

Adrien turned back to the mirror, really taking in the image before him for the first time. His hair was a little disheveled after removing his shirt, the normally controllable bangs falling slightly over his forehead and the ends in the back flared out, which ended up resembling more of his look as Chat Noir than Adrien.

His eyes were wide, the green almost endless as his pupils were barely pin pricks in the void, the color only that much more vibrant against the red flushed skin of his cheeks. His usual dabs of foundation were gone, probably rubbed off during his earlier excursion.

After growing up in front of the camera for more than half his life, makeup had just become a part of him, like clothing or Plagg. He would never wear as much as he had to on shoots for everyday wear, that was just too much, but a touch of foundation and a little powder to take off the shine went a long way. And honestly, why shouldn't he like how he looked?

As his evaluation of the stranger in the mirror moved further down, his eyes locked onto the accusatory mark on his neck. It was like a beacon that brought him back to reality, it screamed 'Yea, that happened. Good luck trying to forget about it'. Not that he wanted to forget. He wanted to etch every second of it, every move she made in his arms, the way she answered the push from his body with a pull from her own, onto the inside of his mind and stare at it as if it were his own personal Mona Lisa. It meant the world to him.

A quick gust of wind pulled Adrien sharply back into reality, his muscles tensing as it chilled him to the core. Without paying attention, he had made his way back to the other end of the boardwalk, his body moving by sheer memory.

He sighed, his breath making a white puff of air in front of him as he pulled out his phone to check the time.

11:17 PM

It had taken him half an hour to walk the length of the boardwalk, and still no sign of Ladybug. Was she coming? Had he been stood up?

'No,' Adrien thought, shaking his head violently. 'She'll be here. I know she will.'

A loud crash of the waves from the beach echoed in the otherwise silent night, drawing Adrien's attention. He watched as the waves turned white where the water churned and rushed to meet the beach, the sound drawing him closer till his shoes crunched unevenly on wind swept sand.

Looking out over the vast ocean, all he could see was darkness. The water was nearly black in color, the only sign of there being anything to see at all was the small splashes of white where the waves overturned and the bits of light reflecting off the street lamps from the boardwalk behind him.

Suddenly, there was a sound of feet displacing sand behind him. His heartbeat jumped up into his throat, his body tensing as he swallowed hard trying to force the jump back down. This was it. What should he say to her? Hi? Nice night?

His mind became acutely aware that the mark on his neck was clearly visible with his sweatshirts zipper pulled halfway down. He had originally done this on purpose, wearing the brand like a badge of honor, thinking she would find it endearing, maybe even erotic, but now as the moment was upon him, he second-guessed himself. Maybe she would see it as distasteful, or worse. What if she'd get angry over his flaunting it.

His hand quickly shot up to his hoodie's zipper, pulling it up as far as it would go, significantly raising his body temperature in the process.

Then, just as quickly as the sound came, it was leaving, heading further down the beach and away from him in what sounded like a hurried pace.

"Ladybug!" Adrien cried out, spinning around on his heels, a hand shooting out to try and grab her as he panicked that his moment of hesitation had cost him everything. But there was nothing. The beach and boardwalk behind him were empty.

A dog's bark echoed from just down the beach. The boy turned confused eyes towards the sound to see a small dog in defense mode, barking and baring its teeth to protect its master behind it. The man looked just as shocked as Adrien, his breath making little clouds of white near his mouth as his chest heaved. With a shake of his head, the man pulled on the leash of his pet and the two continued on their jog down towards the far end of the boardwalk.

'False alarm,' Adrien thought, his eyes watching as the stranger faded into the darkness. Straightening up, he brought his hand up to ruffle his hair, a light and somewhat nervous laugh slipping from his lips at his own reaction to the whole situation. He knew he was on edge, but this was ridiculous.

Another loud crash of the waves now at his back. Another soft crunch of sand beneath a shoe to his left.

Half expecting to see another passer-by out on a midnight jog, Adrien turned towards the sound, his eyes locking onto the oh-so familiar black spots set on a lithe red form. Even with the fifteen or so feet between them, her sky blue eyes shone like they were lit up, catching him in their trance.

It was her. The hero of Paris, the woman that had won him over wholeheartedly from the moment they'd battled their first Akuma together. The girl who always threw herself into danger and never thought of anything, but the safety and happiness of others.

It was Ladybug.


Alright, first off, I want to apologize for the MONTH it took me to post. I'm not going to give some stupid excuse, just know this isn't all of it.

This is only the first 2k of what the original chapter was meant to be. Which is currently at 12k. Yea, I figured people probably would have been put off by the size to even try reading it, so I thought "Maybe if I break it up, it'll be easier for people to want to start".

You know, the whole "not everyone can read an entire 30k long book in one sitting" thing.

So, I'm going to post the rest in increments. Once a week till it's completely caught up to where it should be. At the same time, I'm going to keep writing the next chapters so that maybe there won't be another 4 week long gap in posts.