Okay! Sorry for the wait but I wanted to plan this chapter out carefully. Here you go!
Adrien was usually prepared for just about anything. Being a part time superhero is almost nothing but spontaneous occurrences. But the sight of his beloved Ladybug standing firmly in the doorway of his own bathroom was not something he was counting on. Well, it wasn't so much Ladybug as it was the timing itself. He hadn't heard from her since Thursday when they agreed to meet up, she was nowhere to be found on Friday evening when the patrol was meant to take place, and all day long he was too busy to even contact her. Not to mention he just asked out Marinette. Who he had relations with the night they were supposed to be patrolling!
So yeah. This was not how Adrien pictured his day going.
"I-I, L-Ladybu-h-how...you j-just-" even coherent sentences seemed to be out of his scope at the moment. Ladybug however remained admirably stoic. She held her hand up in the universal sign for "please, shut up". The boy obeyed and snapped his mouth shut with a small whimper and wide searching eyes. He had no idea what was happening so it was probably best to let her take charge.
"Adrien, please go sit down on the couch over there. If you would be so kind." she emphasized her command by pointing over at the small sofa. The model nodded dutifully and shuffled towards said couch. She followed barely 2 steps behind him and stood in front of him.
He looked down towards the floor with a confused and nervous expression. "Um, Ladybug? Is it okay if I ask-"
"No. It isn't."
Adrien bit his lip and hung his head even lower. His well meaning nature was winning out over his curiosity. The last thing he wanted to do was piss her off. Especially while he was basically defenseless given his civilian form. Even if he was Chat he'd still be rather hesitant to go up against an authoritative Ladybug. Any other time he would be bouncing off the walls at the prospect of his one true love appearing in his room at night, but she had such a serious look on her face that he highly doubted any shenanigans would take place.
Ladybug herself wasn't in much better shape although she didn't show it. She needed to get information out of Adrien and this was the best way to do it. When she got into her superhero form she felt more in charge and confident. Sometimes the clothes kind of do make the man. Or the lady if you will. She also knew that Adrien would undoubtedly listen to her while she was Ladybug. She needed to know how he felt. Not about Ladybug though. That much was obvious. About a certain other blue pigtailed girl...
But before any of that...
"Adrien. I'm going to ask you some questions and I only want honest and concise answers. Do you understand?" she crossed her arms. The boy sitting in front of her gulped.
"Er, I guess but...what are you doing here Ladybug? What do you want wi-" he dared to slowly lift his head up only to be met with a stern glare.
"Do you know what the word 'concise' means or should I make you read a dictionary from front to back?" she was starting to sound more like a teacher than a hero. Nevertheless, Adrien shook his head "no". And for good measure answered her out loud. "No Ma'am! I understand Ma'am." he kept his head up but his height and position ended up giving him a direct view of her, as Plagg put it-"a bit lacking" chest. A slight tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks and he glanced off to the side avoiding looking at her at all costs.
If the girl giving him orders noticed this she chose not to acknowledge it because she went on. "Good. Now let's 'chat' shall we?" she leaned down just a bit as if she was making sure she could see any telltale signals of lying once she started the interrogation.
"Adrien Agreste...you're not just Adrien Agreste are you?"
She saw a bead of sweat make it's way down the side of his face as his eyes widened for a split second after she completed her sentence.
"You're Chat Noir." This was not a question. Marinette saw all of the signs and pieced together what wasn't previously obvious to her and they created a finished puzzle that clearly read, "Yes. He was Chat this entire time, good going genius." But she needed to hear it from him. She needed that one last bit of confirmation from the horses mouth before she was able to throw away that .1% of doubt that was stopping her from completely accepting the reality of it all.
Adrien's breath hitched as he searched his head for lies, cover ups, and possibly escape routes. "How did she? Did Marinette see me transform this morning and then tell her? No, she wouldn't do that she's too good of a person. But she is in love with me, so is she trying to sabotage my chances with Ladybug? What the hell is going-"
He didn't have time to finish these thoughts since the polka dotted heroine had gently but firmly grabbed his chin with her thumb and index finger forcibly tilting his head up a bit and forcing him to look directly at her face while she bent down to meet him at eye level. "Adrien..."
He let out a sound that was somewhere in between a gasp and a squeal when she put her other hand below his belt and took a hold of his undercarriage through his jeans. "I would like to get through this without having to resort to torture methods, but if you keep stalling I can't guarantee that you'll be having children anytime soon."
The poor boy's face was contorted in a way that conveyed either great fear or great arousal. Probably both. Let's say 60/40.
Marinette knew that she was acting a quite out of character for Ladybug or Marinette for that matter but she didn't care. She wanted answers. She needed answers. She was on her way to discovering the biggest secret that the love of her life and her partner in heroism was hiding and she couldn't pull any punches. Of course she has no real intentions of hurting Adrien. (Seriously, how is she supposed to have 3 kids with the guy if she rips his balls off and uses them to make a coin purse?) But a little intimidation was necessary if she was going make him give it to her straight.
"I-I don't know what you're talking abo-G-GAHHHH! he practically screeched when she tightened her grip. He had plenty of fantasies involving Ladybug touching him down there but not like this.
"Don't. Lie. I saw you." she bluffed. He flinched. "I saw you on the rooftop of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. One minute you were Adrien Agreste and with a green flash you turned into Chat Noir." the only thing she wasn't lying about was the green flash. Adrien however didn't know that.
"How is this possible?! I made sure to scope everything out before I transformed. Nobody was on the rooftops, in the streets, or even looking through their windows. It was the crack of dawn everyone was asleep! And I think I would've seen Ladybug if she was watching. She's not exactly easy to miss! he thought referring to her distinctive red bodysuit. As he wracked his brain her hand didn't get any gentler. He bit back a wince as his crush tormented and humiliated him. This actually might have been kind of hot if his identity wasn't on the line.
"T-That..." he ran out of words to say but she wasn't having it. She curled her hand up making his legs buck in discomfort. "Tell me the truth Adrien. If you really care about me you'll just tell me the truth. I need to know who you are." she begged while still somehow managing to sound intimidating. The boy was gripping the couch cushions for dear life while his eyes darted around as if a random piece of furnishing would spring to life at any moment to save him.
"W-Wait a minute! I thought you didn't want your identity revealed! You said that nobody could know, n-not even-" he clasped his hand over his mouth realizing that his desperate attempt to save himself just served to bury himself further into the hole he dug. Ladybug's pupils dilated.
"And just how do you know about that Mr. Agreste?"
...
Shit.
"I..."
"I only recall having that particular conversation with Chat Noir. While we were both alone I might add."
"You just-"
"And just what were you doing at that bakery anyway? Did you need to pick up an order? Fight an akuma?-"
She narrowed her eyes mercilessly.
"Answer a booty call?"
He was at a loss for words. He had never seen Ladybug act like this before and he didn't like it. Granted, a big part of that might have had something to do with the way she was crushing his cajones but aside from that, she was being incredibly mean. And seemingly out of nowhere too. She couldn't have waited until he met up with her as Chat? She just had to come into his room without knowing all the facts? She could be a bit impulsive at times sure but this was just insane! This was legit breaking and entering. What if he wasn't really Chat Noir? He could've called the cops on her.
"That girl kissed you. I saw her nuzzling all over you. I see she even gave you a little souvenir." she gestured towards his exposed hickey with the hand that wasn't grabbing his boys. He instinctively brought a hand up to cover his neck while a ripe red blush formed.
"Just who is that girl to you? I thought you loved me Chat?"
"I-I do! And I haven't admitted to being Chat-EEE!" she gripped so hard that his voice went up an octave. "Don't get smart with me. You don't have to admit to anything for me to know what I saw. I thought you'd be man enough to just come out and admit it but I guess I was wrong." she muttered harshly.
"Why are you so upset?" he inquired honestly curious about where the hell this was coming from. "Since when do you care so much about Chat's secret identity?"
"You shouldn't worry about my motives."
"I'm pretty sure I should!" he shot back tilting his head towards his pelvis.
"You're in no position to talk back."
"Ladybug seriously, what's gotten into you? Please...tell me what's wrong." he still showed genuine concern for her while she was doing the exact opposite for him.
In that moment, her eyes softened for the first time since confronting him. She was reminded as to why she fell for this boy. He was the kindest person she'd ever known and she was treating him like this because she was frustrated at the fact that it took her this long to figure out that he had another side to him. She wasn't angry at him.
She was angry at herself for holding him up on such a high pedestal that she failed to...no, refused to notice the glaring clues that had been there all along. And now she was taking it out on him. Her lips parted as her face went from furious to remorseful. She couldn't even begin to fathom how this must have looked to him. How badly she must have tarnished his image of her within in the span of a few minutes. She finally got a date with the boy she loves and the first thing she does is break into his home and try to physically and verbally abuse him into telling her a secret that she herself had forced him to keep in the first place.
Just how stupid and selfish can one person be?
Marinette looked down at what she was doing and felt even worse. She let go of him with a jolt and hugged herself. She looked away and took a few steps around the sofa before taking even faster strides until she went back into the bathroom with a slam of the door. Adrien was still reeling from the whole ordeal but still forced himself to get up to console her. He wobbled slightly as he made his way towards the door.
He knocked. "Ladybug? Are you...alright?" it seemed like the most rhetorical question in existence at the moment but he didn't know what else to say after everything that went down.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Adrien. Please forgive me..." he heard her sobs making their way in between the words. He grimaced sympathetically. "Ladybug you don't have to apologize. I'm at fault too-"
"No! You're not! I came in here, I started calling you Chat Noir, I grabbed your...j-just-I'm sorry..." she sounded like she was on the verge of hysterics. Adrien tried to turned the handle but she'd locked herself in. He ran through every possible way to remedy this situation and only came up with one. It was what he was trying to avoid, but if it made her stop crying...
On the other side of the door Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and geared herself up to cartwheel herself out. But she was not to upset to forget her manners. "Goodbye Adrien. And again, I'm so sorry for intruding. I'm sorry for hurting you and yelling at you. And I'm sorry I accused you of being Chat Noir-"
"Well, I don't know if you were in the wrong on that account..."
"My Lady."
...
That voice. That annoyingly sexy voice.
It could only be.
She swung open the door and found her knight in leather armor. Her newly transformed fashion model. The boy she'd been chasing and pushing away at the same time. The culmination of all the pent up rage and anguish she'd been throwing at herself since she saw the hickey on his neck.
Chat Noir. Her partner and the love of her life.
"So-" he rubbed the back of neck nervously. "This definitely isn't how I pictured the reveal going down. Although I can't say I'm disappointed or anything..." he looked into her eyes and saw that tears remained. However, the reason behind them had completely transformed along with him.
"I mean...you're not disappointed are you? I know you've rejected 'Chat' but I have no idea what you think about Adrien. I wasn't exactly showing off my bravado with the position you had me in." he went on looking embarrassed. The crimson superhero in front of him didn't reply. She had her hands up to her mouth and was quietly sobbing with shaking shoulders.
"My Lady? Er, Ladybug? Are you ok-" he was silenced by a pair of plump pink lips. Ladybug tearfully embraced and kissed Chat as he wore an expression of absolute shock. After a few seconds he found himself easing into the kiss and wrapping his hands around her petite waist. She threaded her hands through his ruffled blonde locks and smiled in the kiss.
She broke away first. "Adr-Chat you didn't have to do that."
"Yes I did. You wanted to know who I was. Even though you already knew, you needed my word for it in order to put yourself at ease. I couldn't leave my Lady hanging." he winked. She giggled while wiping away the excess tears. He really was Chat. And Chat really was Adrien. She was finally seeing all of the real love and concern that lingered beneath those puns and cheesy come ons. How could she not see it before?
"Chat...you're such a stupid cat..."
"But I'm an even stupider bug."
He hugged her even tighter than before. "Nonsense. My Lady is the smartest and most lovely creature on this planet. So smart in fact, that I know a mere costume change isn't enough to convince you."
"Chat I already-" he put a finger to her lips.
"I want to give you all the reassurance you need. Plagg, claws in!"
She watched in awe as the green light from this morning engulfed Chat's body. But this time the end result much different. The blonde model smiled back at the heroine in his arms. She gazed lovingly at the boy of her dreams. Unfortunately, their tender moment was interrupted by a certain black kwami.
"Geez, all of those give me clues and she still needed to see you transform? You sure can pick em' Adrien." he sneered jokingly. Said girl raised an eyebrow at the small pest. Half was in surprise at his appearance and the other half at his remark. "Hey, no offense lady but the only way he could've made his identity anymore obvious was if he wore a sandwich board that said "I'm Chat Noir." Oh who am I kidding? I bet even then you wouldn't have suspected a thing."
"Plagg! That's no way to speak to Ladybug." he snarled through his teeth. The insulted teen couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "It's fine Adrien. I mean he's not exactly wrong...sadly." she glanced off to the side and then down at the floor.
He gave her that bright smile that the cameras couldn't resist. "Well, at least you've stopped crying. But uh...why were you..." he trailed not too sure if he should pursue this matter or leave it. Her curiosity was already peaked.
"Why I was...?" she egged him on.
"Why were you asking about Marinette?" he bit his lip not sure if he should've named her. The girl he was talking about looked visibly surprised as if she'd forgotten she even brought that up.
"Crap. I just had to go and call myself a thot. I couldn't keep my mouth shut about myself. Way to go me. You sold me out! I hope your proud of yourself." if you plan on getting a secret identity you should be prepared for some really weird self berating sessions.
She had pretty much confirmed that Adrien was Chat before she even came over. The real reason she was pestering him about it was to blow off steam. She was so taken aback by the truth that she wanted to vent about it to somebody and she'd already confided enough in Tikki. She wanted to confront the boy in question. Something that probably added fuel to those flames was the fact that he asked her out. Or rather Marinette. Since Chat and Adrien were one in the same, that meant that Adrien loved Ladybug. (yay!) But that also meant that even though he loves her, he still proceeded to finger, go down on, and ask out Marinette. A girl who to his knowledge was very much not Ladybug. (boo!)
"I mean...I was just surprised to see you with her because, I thought you...about me." she trailed off trying to phrase this in a way that didn't sound like she was guilt tripping him. This didn't seem to help much since the detransformed boy was visibly uncomfortable.
"D-Don't get me wrong! I still love you Ladybug. Very much so! I just...agreed to go out with Marinette because, well she really loves me. I mean, the Adrien side of me. And for reasons that are as far from shallow as possible. I was so taken by her confession that I asked her out. T-This doesn't mean that I was planning to pursue a relationship with her." he fibbed about that last part out of the fear of incurring her wrath once again. He really was smitten with his classmate but he was still head over heels for Ladybug. He figured that he could give Marinette a fair chance and then break things off if and when Ladybug reciprocated his feelings. It sounded much better in his head than when he was saying it out loud.
Ladybug however shook her head. "Adrien, very rarely does someone ask a person out unless they are interested in going out with them again. And don't try to make it seem like you were just tossing her a pity date either. You're not the kind of boy who would lead a girl on." she told him.
He squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry...I just...I mean it was mostly Plagg's idea!" he tried to shift some of the blame onto his cheese loving friend but the pint sized cat monster simply scowled at him.
"Hey don't drag me into this. You decided on your own to shack up with her after you caught her polishing her pearl to your picture. Talk about an ego..."
Adrien blushed and put on a "you really don't have my back bro?" expression. He was so distracted that he failed to notice the girl standing a few inches in front of him was glowing red under her mask.
"That's right. Chat caught me. Which means, that...Adrien...Oh dear." she half feared that her mask would melt off at this point. Plagg either failed to notice or failed to care since he continued.
"And then you started going on about how you think she's talented, and nice, and brave, oh and...what else?" he pretended to forget. The boy frowned and sent him a look that warned him not to finish that sentence which Plagg promptly ignored.
"Oh yeah, she has a great ass."
"PLAGG!"
Marinette's shoulders hiked up as every part of her clenched at that statement. "Adrien thinks. That I. Have a nice ass. Well I can chalk up at least one part of this day as a win."
The blonde growled but decided that he would deal with his blabbing friend later. He turned back to Ladybug with an awkward smile and a pink blush across his face. Luckily he couldn't see the matching flush that she wore under her mask.
"Super sorry about my friend Ladybug. He's got no manners. I'll be sure to teach him later." he said choosing not to address the kwami who was rolling his eyes and floating slowly away.
"It's alright. But..seriously, how do you feel about this Marinette girl? And how do you feel about me?" Adrien exhaled as he tried to articulate himself.
"Marinette...is a special person to me. She's like the nicest person I've ever met and she truly cares for me. That alone made me care for her too. As a bit more than a friend. I admit that I am attracted to her and I...did do all of those things Plagg said." he confessed. Ladybug feigned a shocked flinch at these words. Even though the last sentence was the only statement that wasn't news to her.
"I thought that since we're not really together even though I have feelings for you, it wouldn't be cheating or anything like that. I ended up upsetting her when I came in as Chat. You see, my Chat side was already sort of friends with her." he explained. She nodded encouraging him to continue.
"So I...offered to, well-" he cleared his throat. "Give her some...'service' if you will, as a way to apologize for the indiscretion." the way he dressed the sentence up didn't make it any better. "It wasn't out of my own selfishness. It was just an apology and nothing else." he looked away after revealing this half-truth. It wasn't at first, but after Marinette's love confession he was so overcome with passion that he was turning her every wish into his command. But she didn't need to know that. At least not yet.
Ladybug who was completely silent until now spoke. "So you do have feelings for her?"
"...Yes."
"Do you love her?"
"I wouldn't say love. But I definitely like her. A lot."
"I see..." she sounded both relived and disappointed. A very understandable reaction given the situation. "But that doesn't mean my feelings for you are any weaker. I still love you. With all of my heart. I know that you thought all the stuff I've been saying as Chat wasn't serious, but please believe-"
"I know."
"What?"
"Now I know more than ever that your feelings are real. You do love me. You don't have to try and prove it anymore. I'm so sorry I didn't realize it sooner." she gave a chuckle that was laced with mild self loathing. "Although I don't see how you could've fallen for someone so dense."
"Don't talk about yourself like that. You're perfect Ladybug. The fact that you can make mistakes and not only admit them, but also learn from them is the mark of an intelligent and mature woman. My kind of woman." he smiled taking one of her hands in his.
She smiled back. She had gotten what she came here for. She knew that Chat was Adrien and she knew how he felt about both sides of her. And now...
"So how do you feel about me?"
...
"Pardon?" she quirked her head.
"I said, how do you feel...about me?" he asked looking somewhat bashful but still serious. "I told you all about my love for you...so um, do you love me back? Or at least like me?"
The girl in question just stared blankly at him. That was a good question that before a couple days ago she could have answered in a heart beat. But now she knew that Adrien was Chat. This fact didn't stop her from loving Adrien, but this meant that she would have to accept his Chat side as well. She had no problem accepting that fact, but now she had to learn to deal with the fact that it was a package deal. If she loved Adrien, she would have to love Chat just as much. And she had went out of her way to keep things between them strictly professional for so long that she almost stopped herself from even considering Chat as a potential one night stand.
"Adrien...I"
A rumble from outside stopped her. They both turned their heads towards the windowed wall and speed walked up to it. What had appeared to be an akumatized civilian was rampaging through the city. The teens looked at each other expectantly.
"Looks like that will have to wait." she smirked on the inside glad that she bought some time on that one.
He smirked on the outside letting his Chat Noir side shine through. No need to hide it anymore. "Don't think that this is over. But at least you spared us some time by already being transformed." he was already starting to grow more comfortable around her as he playfully bantered.
"Just hurry up Mr. High End Model. We've got a city to save." she crossed her arms.
"Right. Plagg claws out!"
This time, she didn't miss a nanosecond of his transformation.
Well there you all go! Thanks for being so patient.
As always, fav, follow, and review!
