A/N: There was a small spike in reviews last chapter, so I'm glad to see you all love drama as much as I do! I almost feel bad for resolving their first problem so easily, but don't worry, they're going to have some issues.
This chapter's one part angst, two parts fluff (and mild smut). Enjoy!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and added this fic to their alerts and/or favorites!
All Your Love Is Revenge
Ch. 9: In The Future You Envision
Marinette grumbled at the air as she forced herself to research published theses on The Highwayman. She was going to get this stupid assignment done, damn it! If nothing else, the directionless rage she had woken up with served as fuel for her schoolwork. She had even turned her phone off, because if she had to read one more text about how sure Alya was that Ladybug and Chat Noir were totally dating, she was going to call her best friend and burst her ear drums through the phone.
Ladybug wasn't dating Chat Noir because Chat Noir was with Marinette!
Wait, no. He wasn't with Marinette, but he certainly wasn't with Ladybug. Because she was Ladybug and she had shot him down enough times that he now considered it hopeless, and had chosen to be with Marinette.
Except not with-with. But, with in the sense that they were sleeping together. With in the sense that he spent more time with her in a day than he spent with Ladybug in a month. With in the sense that if he was going to choose to be with-with anyone, it should be Marinette and not Ladybug who doesn't show him even half the appreciation he deserves, and hasn't ever properly thanked him for all the times he nearly died for her, and who honestly doesn't deserve him because she was. . .
. . . And, wait, she was technically Ladybug. Why was she being so critical of herself?
The point was that Chat Noir wasn't dating anybody, and it annoyed her that a single shoddy picture could convince thousands of people to the contrary. Nadja Chamack had done a report on it during the morning news, for heaven's sake! It was the same kind of mindless celebrity gossip that usually led to nothing and faded into oblivion in a matter of days, but now she was angry with the living room TV and had secluded herself in her room with nothing but her computer for company.
Marinette screamed her frustration aloud, glad that her parents were out of the apartment.
This was supposed to be a good weekend, she pouted.
Her parents had finally taken a well deserved vacation outside of the city, the first they had taken since Marinette was six. They had even gone so far as to close the bakery for the weekend. And since Marinette was now eighteen, and had proven herself unusually mature for her age, they had decided to treat it as a second honeymoon and left her alone.
She had been hoping she could convince Chat to stay overnight since there was no one to think it strange if she took breakfast up to her room. A part of her had been eager to see how loud he would be if there was no one to overhear. She had been planning to tell him last night, but he never showed up.
Now she wasn't sure if she would even let him in her room. If he ever showed up. A part of her had given up on his visits already. If he thought, even for a single moment, that he had a shot with Ladybug he would almost certainly stop fooling around with Marinette. He was loyal to a fault, and if he thought his Lady returned his feelings, he wouldn't risk betraying her like that. Even without the sex, she thought they would just drop right back into their regular routine as friends.
Apparently, she was wrong. All it had taken was one moment of weakness, one moment where she forgot which lines she was allowed to cross at any given time, and he had dropped Marinette like she burned him. Maybe it was different for boys. Wasn't that what girls at school were always saying? Guys were only friends with girls for one thing, and once they got it they wouldn't be friends anymore.
She knew that was ridiculous; she was still friends with Nino, and Adrien, and Kim, and Max, and not a single one of them was disappointed she never put out. Chat wouldn't do that to her. He was too sincere for that. Besides, was she supposed to believe he had watched stupid movies with her and braided her hair for three years on the off chance she would one day ask him for sex?
It was stupid. It was ridiculous. It. . . still hurt.
The very idea that he wouldn't want anything to do with her if they weren't having sex was enough to make her heart feel like it was stuck in a vise. Marinette drew her knees to her chest, and stared at the screen. Her lower lip began to tremble.
It wasn't fair! None of it meant anything! Not Marinette sleeping with him or Ladybug feeling concern for him. It wasn't supposed to mean anything. So then why. . .
"Marinette?" Tikki's voice was filled with concern instead of admonishment for once. When she didn't respond, the kwami placed a gentle hand over her cheek, right over the trail of tears she hadn't realized she was shedding. Marinette jolted back in surprise. "Are you okay?"
"I. . ." she wanted to say yes. Even if she was crying, she could still be okay. Sometimes, people just needed to cry. It wouldn't be the first time she randomly burst into tears since becoming Ladybug. Occasionally, all her different responsibilities just piled up until she felt like she couldn't breathe, and the only way to get better was to break something or cry.
But this was different. It didn't feel like one of those times. It felt like she was standing in the middle of valley, screaming at the top of her lungs, but no one was around to hear. It felt like her heart was trying to claw its way out of her chest, and she wasn't even sure why. Was she okay? "No."
"Oh, Marinette," Tikki sighed, but Marinette shook her head.
"Can you not talk right now?" She tried to keep her voice gentle even though the words were harsh, "I don't want a lecture."
"I wasn't going to -" the kwami began, but stopped at a sharp glare from Marinette. She sighed tiredly and floated away to the tiny mattress Marinette had sewed for her.
Marinette forced herself to focus on her work. At the very least, she thought morosely, there were thousands of papers done on the stupid poem. Much less were actually translated into French, and even fewer were originally done in French, but she thought she could work with them enough to get her first draft done. There were even a few that agreed that it was a sexist product of a sexist time.
There's nothing romantic about throwing away all the things your lover has done for you because of an impulse.
She was sorely tempted to make that her thesis statement, but she grit her teeth and forced herself to keep reading. That, she could admit, at least quietly to herself, was just her being bitter.
She turned her phone back on as she prepared dinner for herself. As she had guessed there were about thirty texts from Alya all about her OTP, along with three missed calls, followed by one final text that simply read: Sorry I've been blowing up your phone all day, but you know I've been waiting FOUR YEARS for this lol.
Marinette sent a quick text back: No problem, ignoring your LadyNoir rant gave me the strength to work on my lit project :p
There was a missed call from Nino, as well as a text asking her if she was okay since she wasn't picking up her phone. Guessing he was with Alya, she sent a simple 'yep, a-ok.'
Surprisingly, there was a text from Adrien. A noncommittal, 'Hey, how are you?' Then, thirty minutes later when she didn't respond: Sorry, you're probably busy.
Marinette choked on a scream. She missed a text from Adrien! She missed an opportunity to have an actual conversation with Adrien! A conversation that he tried to start! That's it, she deserved a scream!
"Marinette!" Tikki chided her, covering where her ears should be.
The designer started to defend her right to throw a tantrum - she missed talking to the love of her life because she was angry at a stupid cat! - when a crash sounded from upstairs. Marinette froze, wondering if somebody had just broken into her room. For a moment, she wondered if it could be Chat, but he would never break in, he would always knock and patiently wait for her to open.
She hopped from foot to foot, wondering if she should run out the front door, or call the police, or even transform. "Tikki, what do I do?"
The kwami looked just as anxious as she did, obviously unused to her chosen being targeted by random thugs.
Before either of them could fully devolve into total panic, a familiar voice called out just as a black-clad figure landed in front of Marinette, "Princess!"
Marinette jumped more from feeling Tikki dive under the back of her shirt than from surprise.
"Ch- Chat Noir?" She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about having him in front of her. She had been so angry at him since the moment she woke up, but having him right in front of her was almost like a balm. All her anger simply disappeared.
He blinked at her, body tense as if prepared for a fight. "Are you okay? I heard you scream."
"I'm fine," she insisted, having been asked that question one too many times that day. There was only one thing she could focus on, "Did you break my window?"
Chat had the decency to look abashed, "Not the window."
"The skylight?" she growled out.
"Not the whole skylight, just the lock."
"Chat!"
"I was worried!"
She wanted to be angry, really she did, but she had been angry all day and she was tired of it already. "It was nothing, I was just angry about a text."
"Oh," Chat said simply, the tension in his body disappearing almost instantaneously. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Um," she wasn't sure why she couldn't make herself tell him. It wouldn't be the first time she complained about all her Adrien related problems to Chat, without using the name Adrien, of course. But every time she tried to start her sentence with the words 'the boy I like texted me', her tongue twisted itself. "No, it's really not important."
Chat cleared his throat, unsure of how to continue. Marinette shifted on her feet. Tikki pinched her flesh, reminding her that they weren't alone.
"Wha - what are you doing here? Why didn't you come back yesterday?"
Okay, so maybe there was some anger left.
"I came to see you." Marinette crossed her arms and shifted one hip to the side.
Why didn't you come to see me yesterday?
Sensing her displeasure, Chat continued, "I didn't come back yesterday because. . . well, have you - I mean, of course you have, everyone has. . . what I mean is, I'm sure you've seen the picture of me and Ladybug, right?"
Marinette tried her best not to flinch but knew she had failed. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. She was not going to cry in front of him. She was not!
"I was just worried how you might react, because, you know. . . well, you know everything," he waved his hands vaguely and she nodded, because yes, she did know everything about his relationship with Ladybug.
Oh, this was the part where he told her that he had decided to stay devoted to Ladybug. That she had given him hope that his feelings may not be as one-sided as he thought. That they would have to stop whatever it was that they were doing, because he wasn't the type of guy that pursued one woman while sleeping with another. This is the part where her heart felt like it was being stabbed again.
"I didn't want you to think that I was sleeping with you while dating Ladybug, I would never do that."
Please, stop talking. She wanted to hit something. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream again. But she didn't do any of those things, she just stood there and listened.
"There's nothing going on with Ladybug! You'd be the first person I'd tell, you know. I just- I didn't want you to be angry with me."
"What?" She doubted he would have been able to hear her were it not for his cat ears.
Chat smiled nervously, "I just didn't want what we have to be ruined because the news blew things out of proportion."
"Oh," the rush of relief was so great she felt a little lightheaded. "No, I - I didn't think you were with Ladybug. I don't believe you'd be able to keep it to yourself if you were."
Chat gave a little startled laugh of relief and then pulled her into a hug. She worried about Tikki for a moment, but suddenly realized she couldn't feel the kwami. She must have snuck away while they were talking.
"I am the very spirit of discretion," he insisted.
"Oh yes, the leather and cat ears are very discreet," she teased and he poked her in the side, causing her to giggle.
"The black lets me blend me into the shadows, I'll have you know."
"You nearly always fight in the day, though," she pointed out and Chat frowned suddenly.
"You win this round."
She laughed and pulled away, "I win every round." She stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the meal she had been preparing. "Anyway, would you like to stay for dinner?"
He whipped his head around nervously, as if he had just noticed that they weren't in her room. "Your parents won't be joining you?"
"My parents aren't in the city," she admitted, and then, feeling a little bold she added, "They won't be here all weekend."
"Huh," was all he said.
His lack of enthusiasm annoyed her. "Which you would have known if you had bothered to show up last night!"
"I said I was sorry," he pouted.
"Actually, you didn't," Marinette huffed. "Dinner, yes or no?"
She was startled when she suddenly felt his arms wrap around her waist, his chest pressed against her back. "I'd be delighted," his lips brushed against her ear and she did her best to focus on the pot in front of her. "And I am. . . sorry, that is."
Marinette nodded, not trusting her voice to not come out a high-pitched, strangled mess. As it was, she was worried he could hear her heart beating wildly. Which honestly shouldn't be a new sound to him, all things considered. Except there was nothing sexual about what they were doing. It was the domesticity of it all that made her blood rush.
It wouldn't be all that hard to imagine herself doing this everyday for the rest of her life. Even the fight would fit right in to their day to day life. Even without compromising pictures with Ladybug, there were still plenty of times that she had chewed Chat out for unnecessarily putting his life in danger, and she doubted that was going to change any time soon. But he would apologize and she would admit she was just worried, and he would hold her just like this while she cooked the meal they would share before going to bed together. It wouldn't be hard to imagine because it wasn't all that different from what they already had. Except, in her mind, he would still be there when she woke up.
"What are you making?" Chat's voice startled her from her thoughts.
She froze for a moment, suddenly aware of what she was doing. Was she really imagining a future with Chat Noir? No, that was weird. The only future she had ever envisioned was with Adrien, and if she had truly decided to leave those fantasies behind then she should focus on herself, not replace him with somebody else.
Marinette cleared her throat and forced herself to smile, "Just some spaghetti."
Chat choked on air behind her but only waved away her concerns when she asked what was wrong. He seemed to like the spaghetti well enough as they ate, although that may have been because she kept looking at him weirdly.
With the newfound liberty of her parents being away, they decided to settle onto the couch to watch a movie on the television. Marinette cuddled into his side while he combed his fingers through her hair. It was nice and peaceful and she probably would have been lulled to sleep if she didn't have something planned.
Halfway through the movie, she turned her head to kiss his pulse point. He stiffened and made a low noise behind his clenched teeth.
"Marinette, I like this movie."
"So, you've already seen it," she smiled and moved closer to nibble on his earlobe.
He made the same noise as his body shuddered, "I don't think your parents would appreciate me having my way with you on their couch."
Marinette flushed but laughed at his concerns. The idea was strangely tempting. The couch wasn't particularly comfortable, but she liked the thought of having sex where she wasn't supposed to. Maybe tomorrow, right now she had other plans.
"It's fortunate that my room is right there, then."
She reached down to palm him through his pants and he thrust into her hand eagerly before blushing violently. "Marinette!"
Leaning forward, she brushed her nose against his, smiling at the way he whined. "Do you really like this movie more than me?"
Chat growled suddenly and surged to his feet. She probably would have fallen if he hadn't gripped her tight and forced her legs to wrap around his waist, her arms interlocking around his neck on instinct. She found herself laughing, happiness bubbling up inside her as she looked down at him. Oh, so this is what it's like to be tall, she thought before brushing his lips with hers.
He bit at her lower lip, sucking it into his mouth and her legs trembled. She was eternally grateful that he was strong enough and graceful enough to get them both upstairs, because she would have just slowed them down.
When he placed her on the bed and began tugging at her shirt, she pushed him back, "Wait."
The request seemed to physically pain him, but he sat back and stared at her, chest heaving.
"I want to try something," she began slowly. "Do you trust me?"
His eyebrow quirked beneath his mask, "Of course I do."
She smiled and licked her lips, knowing that what she was about to ask would be a lot. Possibly more than he was willing to give, and if he said no, she would accept it. It still took a few tries before she managed to speak. "Don't turn off the lights."
Chat tensed, a wild look in his eyes. "How - I mean - that would mean -"
"I won't look at you," she assured him. Her words silenced him, but he still looked worried. Her courage faded, and she couldn't get her mouth to work. Deciding that the best course of action was to just show him, she sat up and then turned her back to him. Glad that he couldn't see her blush, she pulled her shirt off and quickly unclasped her bra, throwing both to the side.
She heard his breath hitch and realized he had finally caught on to her intentions. She unzipped her pants and moved them down her thighs, along with her underwear.
"I won't look," she promised.
There was moment of tense silence where she was sure he would just leave. Then quietly, "Plagg, claws in."
He was at her back again, his arms around her waist, his civilian clothes brushing against her skin. "I trust you," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss at her shoulder.
To say that she wasn't tempted to peek would be a lie. It was a terrible temptation, especially when he began shedding clothes and there was nothing but skin against her. She had always thought that the sensations he caused in her were more intense because they were in the dark, and without her sight her other senses went into overdrive. But despite the lights still being on, when he ran his hands down her thighs to remove her clothes completely it was still the best thing she had felt in her life.
Her back arched when his hand trailed down to between her thighs, her head falling back against his shoulder. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from turning her head to kiss him.
It was almost a relief when he finished teasing her and guided her to her hands and knees. He trailed kisses up along her spine, his chest settling against her back, his mouth on the back of her neck. She grabbed onto his hand, the one without the ring because she wasn't allowed to see even that untransformed, and brought it to her lips.
Chat turned his hand so that his fingers intertwined with hers and she smiled against his skin. When he began to enter her slowly, she bit down on his flesh.
Mine.
When Marinette woke up, she noticed three things very quickly. One, she was still naked. Two, there was light pouring in from the open curtains. Three, she was not alone.
She blushed as she saw that Chat Noir was very much awake and blatantly staring at her.
"Good morning," he smiled at her.
Marinette pulled up the sheet to cover the lower half of her face. "How long have you been awake?" How long had he been staring at her bed head as she snored?
"Not that long," he answered airily. He was still smiling, so she decided to believe him.
She wasn't sure what to do next, never having had to deal with the morning after. Even without her parents around, she had thought she would wake up alone, since he probably had to show up at home to assure his family that he wasn't dead. It was still early in the morning, so perhaps he didn't have to be anywhere yet.
A smile tugged at her lips as she realized this was the only part missing from the fantasy she had cooked up the night before. Even if it was a stupid fantasy, it was nice that it had somewhat become a reality.
She lowered the blanket, "Would you like some breakfast?"
He smiled at her like she had given him the sun, "That'd be nice."
A/N: Marinette is definitely the one with the claiming kink. All she wants is someone to call her own, and all Adrien wants is to belong somewhere, so it works out!
Yes, I know a blindfold would have worked just as well, but the point was that he trusted her to not break her promise.
I have no idea when their birthdays are! I wanna say Adrien's is in autumn and Marinette's is in spring, because season 2 is after the Christmas special. But that just confuses me because where I live children born in/after September get held back a year. Let's just say ALL the seniors are already 18! Please, for the sake of my sanity.
In case I can't fit it into Adrien's next POV chapter, you'd better believe he spent like two hours wondering if maybe Ladybug was even the tiniest bit into him, before finally deciding it was just in his head. But, of course, he's not going to tell Marinette that!
This chapter's title is (translated) from If by Kana Nishino, the full lyric is "In the future you envision/ I wonder if I exist/ I want to look at/ The same sky feeling the same emotions." Which, is a big mood for this chapter.
As always, tell me what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement.
~ Destiny's Sweet Melody
