Author's Note: Please give Alya the benefit of doubt. She's fifteen, we all make mistakes and think we're invincible at that age. It's hard to show her side when we're in Adrien's head.
Chapter 3
With his bandaged leg propped up on pillows, Adrien shook his head at Plagg as he milked attention from Tikki and complained about his own injury. "It's barely a scratch."
"It's massive for my size!" Plagg complained. "I hate dogs. They should be banned."
"It wasn't the dogs' fault," Tikki scolded and buried herself in the cocoon of Marinette's scarf they'd left on Adrien's bed for her. "Any creature can fall prey to Hawk Moth's akumas. Even us."
Adrien blinked. "You can?"
"To the akuma, yes. To Hawk Moth himself, no," Tikki clarified. "The same as our Miraculous. What you are protects you from being possessed but it doesn't protect you from the akuma's powers."
"Nasty loophole," Adrien mentioned and wondered why they'd never mentioned that before.
Plagg rolled on the bed in mock pain. "My leg. I couldn't possibly move! Oh, the pain is horrendous. Tikki, I'm dying. Tell our children to stay away from the cheeses."
"What, what?" Adrien blurted.
Marinette's head snapped up and she dropped her phone on her lap. "You have children?"
"You're being overdramatic again," Tikki chided, her tail wiggling in irritation. "You're almost healed. It's poor Adrien that took the brunt of the attack. You should really be more concerned about him."
"No, no," Adrien said, waving his hands. "Go back. Children?"
"He'll heal fast," Plagg said. "He gets painkillers and a pretty girl to fuss over him and comfy pillows to prop himself up with. What do I get? A tired, grumpy bug and a distinct lack of cheese."
"Hold up," Adrien said. "Explain the children!"
"It's not my fault winter drains us," Tikki grumbled at Plagg.
Plagg grinned at her. "You'd be less drained if you'd remembered to change to the winter suit."
Tikki's eyes widened. "Oh."
"You always forget," Plagg said, his whiskers twitching with restrained laughter. "That's why you have me to remind you."
"We can change our suits?" Adrien asked.
With a grin, Plagg said, "We can. Winter and summer style. Yours was easy, it just needed an extra layer of fur. Ladybug's needs a little bit extra."
"It'll drain me the next time we transform, Marinette. We should do one without an akuma attack."
"Okay," was Marinette's distracted reply.
Adrien leant forward. "Can I get rid of the bell? Wait, fur?"
Plagg sighed dramatically. "What's with all the questions? So many, I don't know where to start. Or even if I have the strength too."
Narrowing his eyes, Adrien spoke to Marinette, "You know, I think these two just love dropping nuggets of information then never explaining it. I'm not sure we should believe anything they say from now on."
She didn't answer. Instead she frowned at her phone.
"What's wrong?"
She glanced up at him with a haunted look in her eyes. "Alya released the kiss."
Stretching out his hand, he took hers to show solidarity. "We knew it would happen eventually."
"Yeah, I know…"
Worried, he said, "I'm sorry. I know we were trying to be discreet, I didn't mean to—"
She squeezed his hand. "No, it's not your fault. It's just…"
He prompted, "Just?"
She sighed and lowered the phone. "It's… the picture's not… It's not flattering."
He blinked. "Flattering? That probably means a different thing to you than it does to me."
"There are some not very nice things being said."
"About you? Or us?"
She dropped her eyes. "About you."
Adrien nodded, unsurprised. "Come here," he said and patted his chest.
Marinette slid over to him and rested her head over his heart and curled into his side.
Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her close. "I'm a bad luck kitty. There are always not nice things being said about me. They tolerate me, they idolise you and I'm fine with that."
"I'm not. We're partners, equals, it's not right that—"
"People are always superstitious, plus my power destroys while yours creates. I've lost track of the amount of times I'm blamed for minor damage to monuments around the city that I haven't even been near."
Sliding her hand up his belly and chest, she put her fist beneath her chin to prop her head up. "Chat, that doesn't excuse—"
He smiled at her and bopped her nose. "Your opinion is the only one which matters. You like me and that's all I need."
Her smile bloomed and she stretched out her other hand to run her fingers down his face. "I adore you."
"And I adore you." He took her hand so she could play with her fingers. "I've lived my life with under harsh critique, both as Chat and as myself. I know how to deal with it. Ignore the haters, Princess."
She shook her head, determined. "I'll fix this. We'll make a statement or something."
"Or you can initiate the next kiss."
She smiled indulgently. "Oh really?"
"Yeah. We'd have to practice though, to get the right sort of kiss."
"I see."
He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Wanna start now?"
Marinette lifted up, bracing her arms on either side of his chest.
A shrill ring prevented anything else. With a disgruntled look, Marinette sat up and grabbed her phone. Swallowing, Marinette lifted her head, allowed herself a deep breath and answered. "Hey Alya," she said with false cheer. "Yeah, I saw it…" Sliding to the side of the bed, Marinette stood so she could pace.
Clasping his hands on his chest, Adrien watched Marinette as she talked.
"No I'm— she looked like she was crying, are you sure they want that kind of thing out there right now? I just thought that…. well, did you ask permission? That's kind of personal…" Marinette closed her eyes and stopped walking. "No, of course I'm happy for you. It's an exciting development. I just worry you could've been hurt— They can't be everywhere, Alya." She sighed and her shoulders jumped in defeat. "You're right. It's really great… No, I'm at Adrien's." A blush rose to her cheeks and she turned away from Adrien so he couldn't see her face. "Alya! No, there are no deets… he got bitten by a dog and I'm here offering moral support." She glanced at Adrien and winked. "He's a big baby."
Adrien laughed.
"She says she hopes you're not hurt too bad," Marinette told him, then returned her attention to her conversation. "Yeah, in the akuma attack, we were in the market… no, I didn't see you either. Well, I don't know, you're the expert on Ladybug. Maybe it doesn't always work…" Marinette's voice turned scolding. "Yes, you absolutely should take better care of yourself if you're going to get that close! Alya, right in the middle? ..." She listened for a while, nodding and making noises to show she listened. "Yeah… I'm sure they'll understand, Alya. Yeah, okay, I'll call you later. Bye." Hanging up, she tossed the phone down the end of the bed and flopped back on his bed.
"Didn't go so well?"
"Uggh," Marinette said and covered her face with her hands. "I mean, she's right. It's great for her blog and she's getting noticed. I want her to be happy."
"She's also putting herself in more and more danger," Adrien cautioned.
Marinette nodded and rested her hands on her chest instead of her face. "She said she felt real bad. She didn't even see you were still hurt when she took the photo. She got so excited she uploaded it straight away, she didn't notice until reviewing the footage later and now she's embarrassed. She sorta assumed the cure fixes everything, so why worry?"
Adrien reached down and brushed his hand against her hair. "It's understandable. It's breaking news."
Marinette sighed. "They all assume the cure fixes everything. It's not just her. And I can't… I can't do it all and I don't know why."
"Maybe we should consider telling her about us."
Marinette sat up and spun to face him. "What?"
"That's a bad idea," Plagg cautioned, opening his eyes. He rolled over and floated off the bed.
"Is it?" Tikki asked from her cocoon of cloth. "There has always been an inner circle. Alya has been a good friend and—"
Plagg shook his head. "In this day, the technology available could be detrimental. If you tell Alya, she's going to report it."
"Or stop completely," Adrien said. "If she knew it was us then—"
"That'd be suspicious too," Plagg pointed out. "It'd make her a target."
"She's already a target," Marinette said. "She's been akumatised."
Adrien scratched his chin. "Maybe we could offer exclusive interviews as long as she'd stop putting herself in danger."
"That'd hurt her," Marinette said. "She's proud of the fact she's doing this without help. If she finds out I'm Ladybug and that's why she's getting favouritism, she'll hate me."
"No, she won't," Adrien consoled.
"I'm not ready," Marinette whispered. "I was barely ready to know about you. She's my oldest friend. I'm… I can't."
He nodded. "Okay. We won't tell her. What if we still do an interview though? Explain that people need to get out of the way, that the cure doesn't always work. With the amount of people with bites today, I'm sure they'll listen. We can clear the air."
Marinette nodded. "Yeah. Good idea."
Plagg's head snapped toward the door, then he tackled Tikki and they disappeared behind the bed.
Marinette looked startled. "Wha—?"
Pressing fists into the mattress, Adrien sat up further. "Someone's coming."
The door opened and Gabriel stepped into the room. His brow creased at seeing Marinette, then his eyes went wide as he saw Adrien's leg. He crossed the room, coming to stand at the end of the bed. "Nathalie called. How bad is it?"
"Dog bite," Adrien explained. "It's not bad and the doctor's already been."
"What happened?"
Adrien gave him the story he and Marinette worked on. "Marinette and I were at the market plaza looking at some of the fabrics when it was attacked. One of those akuma things. A lot of dogs got loose and went on a rampage but Ladybug stopped them."
"I was led to believe her magic fixed everything," Gabriel said.
Marinette chimed in, "The news reported a lot of people suffered dog bites. No one's sure why they weren't all fixed."
"I see. Perhaps she's not as powerful as everyone believes."
Marinette paled.
"It's not Ladybug's fault, Father," Adrien said. "I'm certain she does her best at all times. And I'm fine, really."
"Can you walk without a limp?"
"Well… no. Not yet."
Gabriel nodded. "Nathalie will cancel your appointments until you can. I'll also call a surgeon to see what can be done about scarring."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Adrien said.
"Marinette, please give me a moment alone with my son."
Marinette looked surprised, but nodded. "I should be getting home anyway," she said as she stood. Reaching down to the floor, she picked up her pink bag, then smiled at Adrien. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"I'll be there," Adrien said and watched her walk away with a smile on his face. As the door closed, Adrien looked back at his father and the smile died. "What's wrong?"
"How serious is it between you and that young lady?"
Adrien's head reared back. "What?"
"I don't want you in your room alone with her."
Adrien blinked several times as he tried to process what Gabriel had said. "What?"
"You're a young man, there will be certain urges—"
"Oh my god."
"Which may cause a loss of cognitive comprehension of consequences and—"
"Oh my god."
It didn't help that Gabriel stood tall and straight with his hands behind his back and kept a mild tone. He could've been discussing the weather. "While that's acceptable and I'm certain Marinette is a lovely young lady, I don't want your future corrupted by a moment of unbridled passion."
"Oh. My. God. Stop! We are seriously not having this conversation."
Gabriel blinked. "Yes, we are. You need to be aware that she may be using you to—"
Adrien held up his hands. "First of all, just so we're clear; Marinette is not after my money. She insists on splitting the bill on everything. Second, we're not even close to anything like what you're suggesting."
"They're always after something," Gabriel said. "If not money, she may be using you to further her career—"
"That is a really bleak outlook. She's fifteen, father. There's no career. Not yet. Besides, she has all these plans of her own, she's never even asked for anything from me."
"She readily accepted an offer to—"
"You offered," Adrien snapped. "Of course she was going to accept. You wouldn't have offered if she wasn't worthy. Was the offer sincere or are you trying to bait my girlfriend?"
Gabriel didn't answer. "So, it's a school fling. Still, you need to take precautions—"
"It's not anything!"
Gabriel raised his eyebrows.
Adrien blinked. "I mean, no, well, it's something. I really like her, but we've never even discussed anything like what you're suggesting."
"Do you know how a condom works?" He reached into his pocket. "I'll have Nathalie fetch us a banana."
Adrien was completely mortified at that thought. If only he could Claws Out and scram. "Stop it! Mom taught me!"
Gabriel went completely still.
Adrien swallowed heavily. Using the 'Mom' card was always a hard play but he absolutely had to shut down this conversation. "Father—"
"She always was better at this sort of thing," Gabriel said with a decisive nod. "Good." With that, the man about faced and stalked from the room.
Adrien exchanged a glance with Plagg as the kwami awkwardly poked his head over the side of the bed. "What was that about?" Plagg asked. "What's a condom? Is that a type of cheese?"
Adrien went red. If the conversation went over Plagg's head, he wasn't going to explain it. "Nothing."
A grin spread on Plagg's face. "Really, your father should know that condoms don't go on bananas. Perhaps that's how they ended up with you?"
Adrien made a grab for the laughing kwami. "You are so dead."
Adrien arrived at school early the following day, so he could spend more time hobbling up the stairs without people asking questions about his injury. No one seemed the slightest bit interested, which relieved him. His classmates were all too caught up in discussing the latest development with Ladybug and Chat Noir.
He'd had a chance to go on the Ladyblog and look, seeing their small, comfort kiss in high definition. Ladybug looked distressed and Chat Noir's hand was on her neck. Many people had misinterpreted the photo as Chat Noir coercing Ladybug into the kiss and that's why she was crying. Adrien had to admit, the photo was suggestive but as there was no indication in that photo of his injury, there was little information for people to form judgements. So they made things up.
Alya released a second picture, with more information, showing Chat Noir had been injured and detailing how he'd been hurt protecting her but by that stage, people had already formed opinions. No wonder Marinette had been upset about the picture. Unflattering was an understatement. He should've been more understanding.
He heard Alya and her swarm coming long before she arrived at class. With everyone so excited about the first evidence of a kiss between their heroes, Alya was surrounded by people asking questions. Marinette ducked in while Alya bid her fans goodbye at the door. Judging by the expression on Marinette's face, she wasn't happy.
Hurrying to his side, Marinette ducked her head and whispered, "She has Chat's baton."
Adrien's eyes widened. "What? But, that's not possible—"
Marinette, as pale as moonlight, looked as bewildered as he was.
Reaching out, Adrien gripped Marinette's hand seconds before Alya burst into the room and dragged Nino in with her. "Babe, that was insane," Nino said, waving his arms around.
"Everyone's interested in the kiss," Alya said and smiled as she spotted Adrien at his seat. "Did you see?"
Adrien nodded. "I saw. Congrats on the picture, Alya."
"First proof!" Nino said, his chest puffed out proudly. "Everyone's hoping for an exclusive with Alya now, to find out how she got it."
Alya shook her head in disbelief. "My phone's been ringing off the hook. I mean, I feel bad now that I know Chat Noir's hurt—"
"Oh, they'll get over it. And that's not all!" Nino said, leaning on the table. "Tell 'im, babe."
Alya rummaged around in her bag and pulled out the small, powered down baton. "It's Chat Noir's! He lost it in the fight and then didn't pick it up after."
Adrien feigned enthusiasm. "Wow, Alya, that's really cool."
She held it out to him. "Here, wanna see?"
"No, that's—"
Nino grabbed it and attempted to spin the small baton like Chat Noir did. "It's so cool. This is his actual weapon. I didn't think they left anything behind."
"Why would anyone want that alley cat's little stick?" Chloé asked, flouncing into the room. Spoilt brat and class bully, Chloé had been Adrien's only childhood friend. Now, that seemed like so long ago, in a naive time. With Chat Noir as her target, Adrien didn't foresee a good outcome. "I really don't understand why any of you are excited about Alya's photoshop job. It's obvious Ladybug wasn't into that kiss." Placing her fingertips on her chest, Chloé turned her nose up. "He's not even handsome. He probably bewitched Ladybug and forced her to kiss him."
"It looks like she's crying," Sabrina mentioned.
"She was," Alya said. "I was there. I released a second picture because Chat Noir was hurt—"
"Exactly. She's crying 'cause he's forcing her," Chloé interrupted.
"Read the rest of the story, Chloé," Alya snapped. "I would never have released that photo had I known she was crying because he was hurt, not because the cure fixed it."
Chloé brandished her phone with a picture of the kiss on the screen. "Pictures speak louder than words. You can retract it all you like, this is out there. He's forcing himself on her."
Marinette bristled. "Chat Noir is a hero. He saves Paris on a daily basis. He would never—"
Chloé tossed her head. "Chat Noir's a dirty alley cat. Ladybug's a hero, he's the groupie. Ladybug doesn't need him but he still keeps hanging around."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Chloé," Alya snarled. "He protects Ladybug and everyone else. He puts his life on the line too."
"Ladybug would be nothing without Chat Noir," Marinette snapped. "They balance each other."
Chloé rolled her eyes. "You're a foolish fool. Bad luck doesn't balance good luck. It hinders it. It changes it. Bad luck infects good luck. Bad luck is a virus and should be destroyed, not praised. My father says—"
Adrien pushed up from his seat, careful to keep his weight on one foot. "That's not true. Without bad luck, there wouldn't be any need for good luck. There wouldn't be luck at all."
"And black cats being bad luck is pure superstition," Rose mentioned.
"Says the girl who thinks dreams matter," Chloé sneered.
"Hey," Juleka snapped. "Leave her alone."
"Yeah," Alix included. "Chloé, lay off. Ladybug'd kick Chat Noir's ass if he tried shit on her."
"Ladybug deserves better," Chloé continued, undaunted. "I'm her friend and as her friend it's my duty to tell everyone that Chat Noir is a bad kitty."
Marinette's hands clenched into fists. "You want to interpret body language so bad, why don't you take a look at every picture you've forced Ladybug to take with you."
Chloé scoffed. "Sounds like someone is jealous. Do you have a crush on Chat Noir?" Her eyes slid to Adrien's in triumph. "Is Adrien not enough for you, Marinette? You have to go for Paris' bad boy too?"
"Chloé, stop it," Adrien said.
"Chat Noir is not a bad boy," Marinette snarled and stamped her foot. "He's kind and sweet and he cares about Ladybug."
With a laugh, Chloé pointed. "She has! She's got a crush on Chat Noir!" Her eyes slid to Adrien's. "I told you she was fickle, but you didn't listen to me."
"Leave her alone," Adrien snapped. "You're being petty, Chloé."
Chloé stalked across to Nino and grabbed the baton. Twirling, she threw it at Marinette. "Here. Take it back to your lover boy since you care for him so much."
Adrien stepped to the side and snatched the baton out of the air before it could hit Marinette. His injured leg wasn't ready to take his weight and he staggered with a grunt. Marinette's hand went to the small of Adrien's back to support him. Planting a hand on his desk to hold him up, he summoned his best scowl. "That's enough, Chloé."
Alya sucked in a startled gasp.
"Me?" Chloé shrilled and pointed at Marinette again. "What about her?"
"I won't have you speaking to her like that."
Chloé's head reared back in surprise. "Adrien…"
Nino blurted, "Dude, your hand."
Adrien glanced down. The baton was dissolving into smoke and he dropped it in surprise. It vanished before it hit the ground. "Oh."
Alya's eyes bugged wide and she made a gurgling sound which was lost beneath the rest of the classes reactions to the vanishing baton.
"I'm sorry, Alya," Adrien said and shook his tingling hand. He hadn't expected that but it made sense. It was keyed to him, to his transformation, and he wasn't transformed. Of course it would go if he touched it. "I don't know what happened."
"How could you pick her over me?" Chloé wailed, her eyes welling with tears. "I'm your oldest friend."
"But you're no longer my only friend," Adrien pointed out.
Chloé's expression went hard. "You're going to regret that." She tossed her head and stalked to her chair to sit in it with a harrumph. Sabrina followed her with a confused expression.
Sighing, Adrien turned toward Marinette to brush his hand down her arm and noticed a rigid form out of the corner of his eye.
Alya stared at him, her stance stiff, her hands clenched into fists and her face awash with horror. Adrien watched as Alya's eyes dropped to his leg, then back up, the only movement she made. When her eyes darted to Marinette, her expression turned devastated. Her face hardening, she shot Adrien a furious look.
Adrien's brow furrowed in confusion. Why was she glaring at him like she was going to kick his ass?
"Alright everyone," Miss Bustier said, walking into the room. "Take your seats."
Author's Note: Gabriel: My son is dating. Must be a father and do the sex talk... wait, his mom did it. Thank god! BAIL! I'm such a good dad.
