When Chat Noir got home he couldn't believe his night. He and Ladybug spent the whole night together, it was quite intimate. When he was younger this was all he dreamed of: a romantic night with Ladybug. She was the love of his life, even if he didn't know who was under the mask, he could just feel it.
The boy de-transforms, allowing Plagg to rest. The Kwami flies onto Adrien's desk, giving the love struck a boy a look of disgust. Adrien, however, doesn't pay the small black cat Kwami any mind and falls onto his bed looking up at the ceiling.
"I don't know what you're so happy about, Romeo," the Kwami scoffed, watching his owner.
"She said she loved me, Plagg," Adrien exclaims, his face a bright shade of red. "And then we-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah I don't want to relive it," Plagg pretends to gag, "And then she said you guys still have to keep your identities a secret, so this isn't much better."
"You're so wrong, Plagg," Adrien argues, sitting up to look at the small Kwami sitting in front of him. "Ladybug and I… it's weird and confusing for now but it's a step, alright? And one day we will know who is under the masks, after all she knows who Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and Carapace are. It's only time before we get to know who each other are."
"Such a hopeless romantic," Plagg groaned, "What did I ever do to get stuck with such a love sick dork?"
"Well this love sick dork provides you with more Camembert than you know what to do with," laughs the blonde. Plagg flies into a hug with his Miraculous carrier. Even though this kid was a hopeless romantic who grossed out the Kwami he loved him. He was the best Chat Noir he had ever had the honor of serving.
Looking to the windows Adrien sees the sky is starting to lighten up: it was turning shades of reds and pinks. That meant he wasn't going to get much sleep. "We should head to bed, Plagg. Father has a busy day planned for me and I would like to get at least a little bit of sleep. And I know you could use it too."
Plagg does as Adrien suggests and curls up on his favorite spot on Adrien's bed. Coincidentally, or at least according to Plagg, he found the comphiest spot right beside Adrien's chest. Adrien never questioned the small Kwami and just let him curl up next to him. Sometimes, if Adrien was lucky, he could even get his Kwami to purr. Plagg would always deny doing it, but it made Adrien happy every time he did it. The sound was small and soft, like a real kitten. The two drift off to sleep, Adrien holding Plagg close to his chest.
Sooner than Adrien would have liked his alarm rings throughout the whole room. Plagg groans, pulling sheets over his head and curling into a tight ball as he tries to block out the noise. Groggily Adrien reaches over and stops it. He sits up and rubs his eyes, watching as his Kwami tried to go back to sleep, not ready to face the world yet.
Adrien leaves the small black cat to sleep some more as he gets ready for the day. While he was still unbelievably tired Adrien was still happy about the night before. Ladybug and him had shared something special, she had said she loved him. It's all the boy had ever wanted. Sure this isn't how he expected things to progress, but as he had told Plagg last night this was a step in the right direction.
After his shower and he had gotten dressed Adrien walks up to his Kwami and lightly shakes him with his index finger.
"Go away, Adrien," groaned Plagg, "I'm not waking up and you can't make me."
"Don't you want some Camembert for breakfast?" Adrien teases, "You can nap after breakfast in my shirt alright? Sorry for keeping you out all night."
"Humph, you should be," Plagg huffs, flying into Adrien's shirt before he heads into the dining room where his breakfast was laid out before him.
Nathalie greets the boy and watches as he eats his breakfast, informing him of the schedule he had for the day. As usual his day was packed and he had little free time. And the free time he did have today, which he would admit he would like to sleep during, he already promised Nino, Alya and Marinette he would hang out with them. He was just happy he got permission from his father to go.
While eating Adrien pulls out his phone to see his notifications had been going off like crazy. Opening his phone to see what all the commotion about he sees the picture of him and Ladybug from the previous night. And of course everyone had something to say about it. The hashtag Ladynoir was even trending in Paris. There were countless news articles covering the image that had surfaced around some time last night.
Ladybug and Chat Noir dating?
Paris' two favorite super heroes have always been speculated to me more than a couple of super heroes and a couple themselves. This theory has always been met with backlash from Ladybug but these pictures show there might be more to the rumors of the two super heroes dating than just rumors. Not that this is anything new, the two have been called out before. This was only a matter of time. We can only wait and see what Ladybug and Chat Noir have to say about their new development.
There were many articles like this one, and Adrien felt bad. He didn't mind the media attention at all, but he knew whoever Ladybug was would see this and get angry. People everywhere were tweeting about this, and it was mostly nice things all things considering. Everyone seemed pretty happy about the pictures and everyone seemed to be sharing them. Even Chloe Bourgeois was congratulating the two on finally becoming a couple.
Adrien thinks for a moment if whether or not he should share the photographs himself. As a model he had a lot of followers and he had been rather vocal about his love for Ladybug in the past so not sharing anything about this he felt would raise suspicion. So he just shares one of Chloe's posts of the pictures with a heart and thumbs up as the comment. He was scared Ladybug may follow him and get mad for contributing to this, but he didn't want anyone to question him about this later.
After finishing his breakfast Nathalie pushes him along to his first scheduled event: a photoshoot. Having countless people poke and prod at him for him he was ready for his shoot. He could hear the makeup artists mutter about the circles under his eyes and how tired he looked today. The boy chose to ignore them and went along with his shoot before he was dragged along to his next activity.
With the little energy he had every task felt impossible. He didn't have the energy to give every task his all as he usually did, and Nathalie notices this, telling him she would be sure to tell his father about his carelessness.
Back at his house he is ushered to a fitting. He's going through the motions by this point. He was running off a coffee Nathalie had gotten for him so he could perk up. It didn't help as much as he wanted it to, though. Just as he was starting to fall asleep one of the people fitting him for a new outfit calls for their new intern, who Adrien hadn't met yet. She was a new hire, and from what he had heard from the seamstresses she was doing well.
He couldn't say he was as surprised as he should have been as he sees Marinette hurry into the room. A wide smile spreads onto Adrien's face as he sees his friend. She was clearly working very hard and he was proud of her.
"Hi, Marinette," Adrien greets.
"O-oh hi, Adrien!" Marinette exclaims, "Guess I should've told you I got the internship from your dad, huh? O-or did he already tell you? He probably did."
Adrien laughs, "No he never said a word. How's the job been?"
"It's been wonderful," Marinette beams, "I'm learning so much." Adrien was glad to see his friend so happy, doing the work she loved. He knew she had always been great at designing, he was just happy to see she was getting the recognition she deserved.
Their conversation was cut short by someone instructing Marinette to take measurements of Adrien. She does as she is told, and as far as Adrien could tell she did a good job. The one who seemed to be instructing her for the day gives her a few notes on she could have done better and she just nods, writing something down. Before she goes to leave Adrien stops her.
"You still on for tonight?" the boy calls to his friend.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Marinette chimed before running off to do more work.
Adrien was dragged to a few more activities before he was finally given the night to himself. He would admit he was exhausted but he couldn't bring himself to cancel on his friends. There wasn't an excuse this time, he actually got permission to have a free slot in his schedule to see his friends from his father. There was no way he was going to pass up this opportunity, no matter how tired he was.
His bodyguard drove him to the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, Marinette's family bakery, which was where everyone was meeting. When he gets there everyone was in the bakery waiting for him. He thanks his body guard before he runs off into the bakery.
"About time you got here, Dude," Nino teases, "We were starting to think you weren't going to show."
"We were not!" Alya exclaims, lightly hitting her boyfriend in the back of the head. The group laughs before they start walking to find Andre. With the summer slowly coming to a close they decided one last trip to find the ice cream maker as a group would be a fun night out.
On the way Alya looks to everyone, practically bursting as she clearly had something on her mind she wanted to talk about, and knowing Alya Adrien was sure he knew what is about. It's all Alya ever talked about it seemed: Ladybug.
"Okay if none of you are gonna bring it up I guess I have to!" Alya states, grabbing her phone and pulling out the picture that had been making its' rounds on the internet. "There is no way Chat Noir and Ladybug can deny they're dating now!"
"Yeah, I mean, come on who do they think they're fooling?" Nino laughs along with his girlfriend. "Like? Have you seen them up close? It's like they're not even trying to hide it!"
"But, doesn't Ladybug say they're not dating?" Marinette states softly, having all eyes turn to her.
"Girl! You can't tell me you actually believe that?" Alya asks, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.
"Why would Ladybug lie?" Marinette asks as she starts blushing.
"Because that's some pretty personal stuff, Marinette," Adrien says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "I get why she'd do it. I have the media on me all the time, remember when everyone thought you and I were dating when we went to the movies? Pictures of us were all over the internet."
"Yeah and that wasn't real either," Marinette huffs.
"I-I just mean that, if I were Ladybug, I get why she'd deny it. It isn't fun having people try to know what is going on in your life all the time. What they may or may not have going on is very personal and between them," Adrien says, trying to say the right words. He knew exactly was going on between them, so he had to be careful on how he weighed in on this topic.
"You guys are reading into this too much," Alya laughed.
"I bet they're totally fucking when they're not on patrols or saving Paris from akumas," Nino laughs along with Alya, teasing the two super hero of Paris.
"Nino! Gross!" Marinette exclaimed, her face turning an even brighter shade of red.
"D-dude that's a little far," Adrien says, about as embarrassed as Marinette was. Because little did Nino know he was making fun of his best friends' sex lives.
"Aren't they like, our age?" Nino asked. "You know they have had to at least once. How could you resist Chat Noir?"
"This is no time for your insane crush on Chat," Alya chuckled, seeing as this conversation only seemed to make Marinette and Adrien uncomfortable she changes the topic. "So, which way is Andre anyways?"
"Mylene and Ivan shared a picture of him on the Pont d'Iena," Nino stated, showing his phone to the group. "That's not far from here, we can get there on foot."
The group starts walking towards the bridge, happy to be hanging out together in what felt like forever. Since they got out of school they hadn't had time to be together like this. It was almost whenever someone had a time free someone else had other plans or was busy. Moments where they could be together had become rare. Not that they didn't see each other individually sometimes, especially Marinette and Alya. And now that Marinette was working for the Agrestes she would get to see Adrien more often.
When the group of four finally gets to the ice cream stand Andre greets them with warm smiles. Andre gives Alya and Nino their usual, as they came fairly often. Adrien motions for Marinette to go first and Andre smiles.
"Ah! Marinette and Adrien! Wonderful to see you two!" Andre beamed, grabbing a cone for the two of them. "So, for the two of you I-"
"A-actually, Andre, Adrien and I aren't here together if you get what I mean," Marinette awkwardly speaks up.
"Oh what nonsense!" Andre dismisses Marinette, continuing to make the ice cream he had started. "I insist! When there is love in the air Andre can sense it!"
"Let's just play along," Adrien chuckled, standing beside Marinette. The girl's eyes glance to the ground as she nods, face going red again. Adrien always loved how easily his friend got worked up, it was always sort of cute to him.
"Alright then! Let's get you two started, eh?" Andre laughs. "Hmmmm… You two certainly hard to read. Not that it is a bad thing mind you!" This just makes Adrien chuckle, watching as Andre assembled the ice cream for the two of them. "Okay then. Mint for his eyes, strawberry with chocolate chips for her passion and then blueberry!"
Marinette and Adrien examine the ice cream, both taking it in their own way. Though both of them were amazed and grateful, thanking Andre before joining Alya and Nino. They sit on a bench in a nearby park. Adrien and Marinette were a little awkward eating their ice cream given they weren't a couple like their friends, but they made the best of it.
Adrien would admit he was starting to get a little tired and was starting to have a hard time keeping his eyes open. He tries his best to hide this from his friends, but it is obvious. As the makeup was washed off his face from earlier the bags under his eyes were as visible as could be.
"Are you okay, Adrien?" Marinette asks, "Are you getting enough sleep?"
"A-ah yeah I'm alright, my father just has me on a busy schedule, you know how it is," Adrien says trying to think of a valid excuse. It wasn't as though he could just say yeah I was out with Ladybug until dawn last night and I had to be up early today so I slept maybe two hours if I'm lucky. So instead he smiles for his friend.
"I get it," Marinette chuckled, "I was up late last night, doing- um- w-work. Y-yeah work, I just want to do really well at this job, you know?"
"Makes sense," Adrien nodded, "Make sure you get enough sleep too, though, okay? If I have to you do too."
"Alright I will." Adrien sat back, happy to be with his friends. Everyone was so happy and it felt like old times. Though Alya refused to drop the Ladybug and Chat Noir topic the group just laughs her off, dismissing her every time.
Nino cracks some joke about how it's all ever Alya talks about, even when it is just them and that makes Marinette and Adrien laugh. They talk about how their lives are going now that they are out of high school. Alya shares her excitement for some journalism program she had gotten into while Nino got into some music school. Adrien felt bad for not remembering which one specifically but he gave himself the excuse that he was exhausted.
Adrien watches as Marinette's eyes light up as she talks about all she has been learning during her internship under his father. The passion in her eyes was remarkable. He was taken back by how fondly the talked about the company and how kindly they had treated her.
Wishing he had good news to share of his own, or rather news he could share, Adrien just shares with his friends that nothing much has changed in his life. He was still a puppet for his father, doing as he told him. He wanted nothing more than to tell his friends about his time with Ladybug, tell them how beautiful he thought she was. He knew he could never share this with them, though. No matter how much he wanted to.
As it started getting late Alya suggested we should call it a night as Marinette and Adrien both were practically falling asleep on them. The two apologize before they start to part ways.
"Marinette?" Adrien calls, making Marinette turn around. "Would you like a ride home? I'm sure my body guard wouldn't mind driving you."
"I'm alright, thanks for the offer though," Marinette says.
"Are you sure? You look about as tired as me. It's no trouble at all, really," Adrien argued. Marinette was always like this, she never wanted to trouble anyone, it was sweet of her.
Reluctant Marinette nods and waits on a bench with Adrien as they wait for his body guard to come and get them. With both of them so tired there wasn't much conversation. Adrien could see Marinette practically falling asleep beside him.
He wondered what his father's company was putting her through to make her so sleepy. Even on a normal day without being out all night Chat Noir his father's schedule made him exhausted: not to this extent, though. He didn't know what the designers had Marinette doing of course, he knew very little about the designers did.
Adrien's body guard was there in no time. Helping Marinette into the car he instructs the body guard on where to take Marinette. As usual the body guard doesn't say a word and just starts driving. He turns on the radio as they drive through the streets of Paris. And of course it was a podcast about Ladybug and Chat Noir. Though in the body guard's defense Adrien did ask to listen to the news about Ladybug and Chat Noir on his rides to school most mornings. So the car was probably set to this station already.
It was a couple of hosts debating on what the new romance between Chat Noir and Ladybug meant. They were discussing what it meant for the heroes and what it might mean for Paris. In the middle of the podcast Adrien heard Marinette scoff and he watches her repress whatever comments she had to say. It made the boy give a weak chuckle.
"The podcast bothering you, Marinette?" Adrien asks.
"Oh, sorry, no, it isn't that," Marinette says, looking to the floor. "I mean, it is the podcast, but it isn't bothering me. I just hate that they're assuming so much about Ladybug and Chat Noir. If I were either of them I'd feel like they're invading my privacy. It isn't fair to them."
"Yeah," Adrien rubs the back of his neck. He always admired how sweet his friend was. Here she was, not indulging on the rumors like everyone else but thinking about how Ladybug must be feeling. She seemed to be the only one. "But it isn't too bad, right? At least they're not saying anything scandalous."
"Yet," Marinette says matter-of-factually. "You heard Nino earlier."
"But that's just Nino," Adrien tries to brush it off, but he truly hadn't thought of this side of the predicament yet. Even with all of his fame as a model nothing of this proportion had gotten into the hands of the media. The worst rumor that had spread on the internet was that Adrien was dating Marinette and he found that one somewhat funny.
"I guess," Marinette sighed. The rest of the car ride was quiet, only the podcast filling the air. Adrien wondered if he should tell his body guard to change the station but he wanted to know what the public thought of him and Ladybug. What were they saying about them? What exactly did they think was going on?
When arriving at Marinette's home her and Adrien exchange goodbyes as she gets out. Once she is inside Adrien takes out his cellphone to see what everyone was saying about this new rumor the rest of the way home. He mostly just saw what Nino and Alya were saying earlier. People were speculating how serious the relationship had gotten, how long it would last and how it would affect their hero work.
A new feeling rose in Adrien, never before was he set off by what people said about him. He thought he had grown used to it. People had always talked about him: he was a famous model. But now he was angry, he just wished people would stop. It was probably making Ladybug uncomfortable and it seemed to be making Marinette upset as well.
When he finally got home the boy went straight to his room. He falls face first onto his bed, lying there for a couple minutes before Plagg flies out and starts poking at the boy's cheek.
"Adrien? Adrien you alright?" the Kwami asks, still poking him.
"I don't know, Plagg," Adrien groans finally turning onto his back.
"All this over some stupid rumor?" Plagg huffs. "Aren't you two dating anyways? You- ugh- did that gross thing humans do when they love each other or whatever."
"We had-"
"Yeah yeah yeah!" Plagg stops the boy before he could say the word sex. It grossed the small Kwami out, every part of romance did. "You did that. Doesn't that make you sort of dating? But only as heroes since you can't know identities yet or whatever the excuse is?"
"No, not really. She did say she loves me, or she thinks she does," Adrien sighed, trying to piece it together himself. "But without knowing who the other is can we really date?"
"Humans are so difficult," the Kwami of destruction crosses his arms. "Who cares what the guardian thinks? Just tell each other who you are."
"Ladybug. Ladybug cares what the guardian thinks," Adrien points out. "For now this is okay. It has to be, right?"
"Sure, kiddo," Plagg shrugged. "You should probably go to bed, you look like you're going to pass out on me."
"Alright, alright," Adrien yawns, making a small place for Plagg to cuddle up with him. "Was this just your way of getting your comfy spot?"
"Oh shut up, Adrien," Plagg yawned, "Your yawns are contagious."
"Okay, goodnight, Plagg."
"Goodnight, Adrien."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: From this point forward the story is going to be told from exclusively Adrien/Chat's perspective. I want the media to shape how Adrien sees things since Marinette is the only one who will really know what's going on. Just thought it would be interesting to have the narrative changed by what people are saying about the two super heroes.
ALSO no I didn't write a sex scene because it makes me uncomfortable and there will be more revealed about the night from the previous chapter as the story continues as Adrien looks back on it. Sorry if this disappoints you.
Thanks for the great response so far! It means a lot to me.
