Adrien was positively buzzing. He had no idea there were so many people like him!
Nino looked at him with calm affection. "You had fun, then?"
"Yes!" Adrien exclaimed, still wide-eyed from the whole experience. "There were so many people! I had no idea there were so many people!"
Nino chuckled, "There were quite a few people."
"I'm sorry, I just- I had no idea!" Adrien couldn't seem to get his mind into focus. There was just this whole other world that he dived into. And when he talked to the others in the GSA meeting he was just so astonished with how easy it was to be himself and how wonderful it felt to talk to other people about his experience.
"Nino, thanks so much for coming with me. I don't think I could have done this alone."
Nino just clapped him on the shoulder. "Of course, we're best friends." He said simply, and nothing more needed to be said.
Adrien spent the rest of the walk home trying to sort out all his thoughts.
Bisexual. That was the word. He was so confused for so long because he never thought it was possible. "Bisexual" he whispered quietly enough that Nino probably couldn't hear him even from his place at his side.
And then he giggled.
Everything made so much more sense. And he's not alone, there are people all over the place, even in his school, who are like him! An entire community! Adrien can't remember ever being part of a community before. He grinned like Chat Noir just thinking about it. He wanted to tell Ladybug about today. He wanted to tell everyone about today. It was just such an amazing experience, meeting so many people who gave him such unconditional acceptance and support. And the stories! Everyone had their own unique story and it made Adrien think about how important stories were. How important it was that he had someplace safe he could share his story. He wanted everyone to have that.
He said goodbye to Nino and walked up to his house, opening the door with the same dumb smile he had on his face since he walked into the club meeting.
"Adrien."
Well that was one way to make the smile drop. "Dad." He responded.
"You're late."
"There was this club that I really wanted to check ou-"
"If you plan to join any more clubs, make sure you talk with Natalie and get it put in your schedule."
Adrien answered obediently. "Yes sir." He wasn't entirely sure if he was glad that his dad seemed to have no interest in exactly what club he had been at.
"Don't let it happen again."
"I won't."
"Good."
Adrien's dad left a few moments later. Always busy, Adrien thought. He doesn't even care. When he made his way up to is room and closed the door behind him he thought, but someone does. A lot of people do. He smiled at the ring that let him turn into Chat Noir. "Plagg?"
"MMMFFF?"
"What? Plagg?" Adrien opened his bag, seeing that Plagg had somehow managed to pin himself under Adrien's history textbook, with a too-large chunk of cheese in his mouth as well. Adrien lifted the textbook for his kwami, who zipped out to float near his shoulder.
When he had swallowed the cheese, the small kwami said, "Ahh, geez, why is your textbook so heavy?"
Adrien chuckled. "Never mind that. Plagg, I had probably the best day ever."
"Yeah I know, I was there the entire time, remember? I still don't get what the big deal is. Cheese is better than people anyway."
"Some cheese, maybe." Adrien scrunched up his nose remembering some of the less happy tales he heard at the GSA meeting. "And some people. Most people are way better than cheese though."
"Like Ladybug?" Plagg teased.
"Yes, actually. Like Ladybug." He poked Plagg once playfully.
"And that boy you like?"
"Him too."
"Are you going to tell me who he is?"
Adrien crossed his arms, "Nope."
"Why not?"
"Because you'll find some way to embarrass me you dumb cat." Adrien flushed slightly at the thought, but still smiled.
Plagg placed his tiny paws over the left side of his chest, "You don't trust me. After all we've been through!" Adrien shook his head and sat down, turning the chair to face his computer. Plagg drifted down onto the desk in front of him. "My own human hates me!" Plagg exclaimed, pretending to faint with a dramatic paw to his forehead and everything.
"Oh calm down, drama queen. I'll let you know later. It's not important right now is all."
"I'll forgive you if you give me cheese."
"You literally just had some!"
"But I don't have any right now."
Adrien focused on his computer, "You can have some cheese after I finish my assignments."
"But there's so much! It'll take at least an hour!"
"That's just your bad luck then."
Once he had finished all his homework, Adrien quietly browsed forums as Plagg happily chowed down on a plate of cheese. With a glance at the computer screens, Plagg commented, "You sure are taking this whole thing pretty seriously."
Adrien finished reading the post someone had written describing their experience as bisexual. "Of course I am Plagg, it's important to me."
Plagg took another big bite of his meal. "Why?"
Adrien frowned, trying to think of how to explain it. "Well, it's like when I first met you. Remember when we first transformed? And what I told you afterwards?"
The kwami nodded. "Of course, you were acting like such an idiot."
"I told you then, I acted dumb because for the first time in my life I was allowed to be dumb. I could be as weird as I wanted. This is kind of like that. I realized this new way that I'm different than most people and I really want to embrace it, like I do when I'm Chat Noir, does that make sense?"
"Not really. It seems like a lot of work."
"That's the thing, Plagg," Adrien grinned, "It actually takes a whole lot less work than hiding everything all the time."
"Then don't hide stuff." Plagg shrugged.
Adrien sighed. If only, he thought, wouldn't that be nice?
The two sat for a while longer in silence as Plagg finished the cheese. "You done?" Adrien asked, "We should meet Ladybug for patrol."
From the rooftops of Paris at night, Chat Noir found it hard to worry much about his civilian life. Everything was going… great. Remarkably great. He had the best friends he could ask for, a whole community to immerse himself in, it was even a quiet week as far as akuma attacks were concerned. The only thing that could make it better… Just one more safe space. He thought. One where I can be Chat and Adrien. If he had that, his life would be perfect.
Well, that and maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend. Or both. He felt a wave of giddiness wash over him. Wait, what? No, that wouldn't be fair to them. At least… not if they're both only on one side of my life. Adrien grabbed his baton and held his thumb over the call button. Ladybug should have been here by now. What if they weren't only on one side though? If they both knew both Chat and Adrien? And of course they knew about each other. Would that even work? He shook his head, deciding even thinking about it was just pushing his luck. He's already happy. He can worry about girlfriends and boyfriends another time.
Chat Noir pushed the call button, ringing up his partner in crime fighting, all while wearing the same goofy grin that's been plastered on his face nearly nonstop for hours now.
When he got the notification that Ladybug wasn't transformed, he decided it was best just to leave a message. She was probably held up by something in her civilian life. It happened sometimes. "Hello, My Lady." He said, looking into the little camera that would show Ladybug his face. "It's nearly thirty minutes past our normal meeting time, so I'm going to go ahead and start a quick patrol." He winked into the camera. "If you do end up getting this tonight then call me back. I'll be around as always."
Ending the call, Chat decided he may as well just use the time he had to enjoy himself.
"Marinette, Chat Noir is calling you." Tikki's soft voice broke Marinette out of her daze.
"Huh? Oh, right, I forgot we were supposed to meet."
"If you don't feel up to going then you don't have to." Tikki said. "Chat will understand. You both sometimes miss patrol."
Marinette smiled at the red kwami. "No, I don't think I'll go. I don't think I'd be able to focus enough for a proper patrol anyway."
Alya had only left Marinette's house an hour ago. Ever since she found out that Adrien wanted to go to the GSA meetings at school Alya had been trying to coerce Nino into telling her everything, but Nino insisted that "That's Adrien's business. If he wants you to know then he'll tell you. Sorry, but he's my best friend, I can't do that."
They had both understood, but the uncertainty was driving Marinette crazy. For all she knew, Adrien didn't even like girls at all! She didn't have a chance!
Alya had been over constantly since then, doing her best to distract Marinette from the entire thing. And she appreciated it so much that her friend would do that for her, but it was time to stop feeling sorry for herself. I don't even know for sure! Just because he went to the meeting doesn't mean he doesn't like girls!
She thought about Chat Noir, about how just the night before everything happened with Adrien he had trusted her enough to let her be his safe space. I guess Nino is safe for Adrien. She mused. By the way he kept his mouth shut even with Alya questioning him, it was a good choice, but Marinette felt a little jealous. She wished Adrien could trust her like that. Like Chat trusted her.
If it does turn out that Adrien doesn't like girls… Marinette didn't finish the thought. She chastised herself for even beginning it. Chat deserves to be more than just the fallback guy. I couldn't do that to him. He deserves to be someone's number one, not two.
Laying on her bed and lacking the motivation to do much more than go to sleep, Marinette decided that even if things didn't look so good for her, she wishes Chat Noir all the luck in the world with his own crush.