Hi lovely readers! I'm back! I'm finally back! I have been so honored with all of the new readers who have joined my story in the past few months. I never expected my humble little story could become ranked so high on so many lists. I'm sorry to those of you who don't think I update enough, but it is hard with a full time job and a family for me to find time to write. My next update will probably be sometime in the summer once school has let out. But no matter how long the wait, I promise I have not abandoned this story. I have the whole thing mapped out and it should be completed within the next eight chapters or so. I can't wait to get started on fleshing out the rest. It is going to be a wild ride. :)
Oh! I also want to give a shout out to my wonderful beta readers from Wattpad who I couldn't have done this without. Thank you HappGorl for helping me plan the rest of this story and edit this chapter! Also a big thanks to gamechanger321 for all of your great grammar advice as well!
Enjoy this chapter and please bear with me as I try to balance this little thing called life.
-...-
Things had been going so well. So well!
Marinette groaned, languishing the warm water as it attempted to lull her into a false state of relaxation.
The night before had been such a breeze - movies, pizza, harmless bantering - Marinette had been kind of getting used to this whole hanging out with Adrien thing. In fact, it had even been fun. What with all the insecurities and stuttering out of the way, she had actually been able to enjoy his company.
It had been so natural, so easy to fall into a comfortable rhythm with him, that Marinette had allowed herself to forget, for the merest of hours, that they would one day be married.
That was until she had woken up this morning.
Marinette pounded her forehead with the palm of her hand, hoping that the impact might somehow miraculously cause the uncomfortable memories to vanish.
"Stupid, Stupid!"
How could she continue to face Adrien?
Sure, it hadn't been her fault that he had somehow idiotically managed to fall asleep on her bed...
But why hadn't she had a more appropriate reaction?
She was clumsy, doesn't-know-how-to-act-around-her-crush Marinette after all. Why hadn't she screamed or even fallen out of bed when she had woken up with an arm stretched across her abdomen?
Why didn't she gently move his arm or try to flee?
Anything would have been better than the disastrous events of that morning.
"Stop that, Marinette!" Tikki squeaked, dropping her unfinished cookie onto the vanity and flying over to grab Marinette's hand. "You are not stupid. Believe me."
"Believe me," Marinette dryly retorted, sinking deeper into the bubbles of her freshly poured bath, "when I say I am. If only you had seen what I did - what I allowed to happen. If you had known what I was-"
"I saw enough Marinette." Tikki gently rubbed her charge's hand. "It's not as bad as you are thinking."
"It's not?!" Marinette jerked to a more upright position, flailing her arms and flinging bubbles, and Tikki, into the air. "What did I do when I woke up to find Adrien sleeping right next to me?!"
"I-I don't know," Tikki regained her balance, setting herself on the edge of the tub. "I didn't see that part."
Of course not. Marinette huffed, angrily squirting a dollop of shampoo into her hand. "Well, I'll tell you what I did." She roughly lathered the product in. "I freaking touched his hair. I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, touched Adrien Agreste's gorgeous hair."
"And…" Tikki giggled. "What's so bad about that?"
Closing her eyes, Marinette arched her back, submerging her hair into the water. So what if this was her second bubble bath within twenty-four hours. It wasn't her fault that her period was about to start.
Images of Adrien's sleeping figure flitted through her head. She could still see his serene features - a silent peacefulness about them as gentle and fragile as a placid pond's reflecting moon. She could still hear his even, contented breaths, telling her of his absolute trust in where and with whom he was sleeping - a subtle fact that still managed to make Marinette's heart stutter.
How could she have run away from that? Not when he had looked so content, so vulnerable even. As if her slightest movement - her slightest attempt to leave - would have robbed him of his happiness, his absolute faith in the stability of her presence.
No. Instead she stayed, deciding, rather to slowly soak everything in.
To try and understand this rather unbelievable experience.
Marinette exhaled, emerging from the water once again, as her mind replayed the earlier events, rummaging for an answer to Tikki's question.
How the heck was she supposed to just lay there without touching him? What with his slightly parted, beckoning lips and his soft looking skin. Everything about him was calling out to her. Luring her in as if he were some sort of beautiful, magical sleeping siren.
For the past four years, all Marinette had seemed to think about was what it would be like to be with Adrien - to wake up every morning right next to him. And there he was, looking more angelic and handsome than she even imagined.
The temptation was almost too much to bear. But Marinette somehow resisted. Yes, it was with great determination that she somehow managed to go almost an entire minute without touching Adrien.
For fifty-two whole seconds after waking up, Marinette's will had been solid as iron.
That was until the state of his extremely seductive, unkempt bed hair sunk in. It was then that her breath had hitched, her heart fluttering at seeing Adrien's perfect hair looking exactly like Chat's, and she had involuntarily moved her hand.
Marinette shuddered at the memory of that moment, opening her eyes and ringing the water out of her hair, regretting that simple, yet critical, action.
"It was bad because I woke him up," she finally responded to Tikki. "And sleepy Adrien forgot I wasn't his wife…"
"Oh…" Tikki scooted closer towards Marinette, the morning sun glinting off her red fur in the process.
"Yup," Marinette slowly breathed, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "He said, 'Good morning princess,'and then pulled me in and kissed me on the forehead."
She squeezed her legs tightly, trying to keep her rapidly pounding heart from flying out of her chest. Everything about that moment was still so vivid - the sweet, intoxicating aroma that infiltrated and seemed to envelope Marinette in a sea of nothing but Adrien, the comfort she felt at being firmly held within the safe haven of his arms, and the absolute determination she had felt in never wanting to leave them.
It was as if she had lived her entire life as a nomad, aimlessly and unknowingly searching and never finding home until that very moment. That was where she was supposed to be, Marinette knew that now. Nothing in her life had ever felt so perfect, so right as being intertwined with Adrien. They were two sides of the same coin. Marinette and Adrien - Ladybug and Chat Noir. Destiny. That was the only word that could describe it.
There had only been one other time she had felt something quite like it. A time with rain and an umbrella...
"That sounds so cute!" Tikki gathered some bubbles into her hands, making Marinette feel slightly annoyed at how lightly she was treating the situation. "What happened next?"
Sighing, Marinette rested her chin on her knees. This next part, she couldn't even believe herself. "He told me loved me, and then I told him I loved him back."
"You did what?!" Tikki blurted, flying towards Marinette and pushing Marinette's head up and off her legs. "You told Adrien you love him!?"
Marinette winced, trying to focus on Tikki's closened image. "I did."
I couldn't stop myself.
"Marinette! That's huge! You finally let your feelings out!"
"I know."
"How did it feel?"
Like my heart was going to explode.
"I-I don't know," Marinette lied, shrugging her shoulders and thinking back to the enormity of that moment.
It was the first time she had heard those words coming from Adrien's lips. Of course she knew he loved her. One day she would be Mrs. Adrien Agreste.
But it was different.
Knowing was one thing. But hearing him profess his love, with her name at the beginning of the sentence - well, Marinette couldn't handle the solidity of that realization.
All reasoning.
All rational thought.
None of it mattered. It was as if it had never even existed.
Because Adrien Agreste said he loved her.
And she'd be damned if she resisted spilling her own confession.
So what if he was the Adrien of the future? She loved him. That much was certain.
"Okay." Tikki retreated a bit, giving Marinette some much desired distance. "So how did he respond?"
Leaning back, Marinette slunk into the water, only shallow enough for her to still be able to speak. "He tried to kiss me and I completely flipped out."
"Oh my!" Tikki squealed. "That must have been when I woke up."
"Bingo." Marinette shut her eyes and completely succumbed to the warm watery depths.
Her heart thumped dangerously within her chest, crashing and colliding against her ribs.
Adrien had tried to kiss her.
The moment had been so beautiful.
So… perfect.
It was everything she had ever dreamed of.
If only she had closed her eyes. If only she had waited, quietly welcoming the warmth of his lips as they softly pressed against hers.
Then maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't be drowning her regrets underneath the water, imagining the sweetness of their almost kiss.
And why? Why did she want it so bad?
Wasn't it wrong?
Wasn't it a kiss ultimately meant for a different Marinette?
She knew that. Of course her brain did.
That was how she had found herself scrambling off the bed, running to the respite of the bathroom in which she hadn't left since.
She had known it wasn't right - to give her first kiss -her first real kiss- to the Adrien of the future. She had already slipped up, telling him she loved him. Marinette had to save something, something, for her Adrien.
But why could she not convince her rapidly beating heart of that truth now?
It had been the right choice.
Of course it had been the right decision.
Marinette's lungs burned, the stinging lack of oxygen painfully reminding her of the flustering moments of the more current situation.
Maybe things wouldn't have been so bad if she had come out after Adrien had pleaded for forgiveness, explaining that he had unintentionally fallen asleep after carrying her upstairs. (Marinette never had been great at staying awake during late night movies.)
Maybe she wouldn't feel so embarrassed to see him right now had she just been able to face him right then and there. Buck up to her mistakes. Pridefully accept her final decision.
But luck was not on her side, as things would have it, because right at the very moment she had been thinking of going out, Marinette cramped, a telltale sign that her period was coming.
And what was worse, Adrien knew. He knew exactly what was happening.
Marinette's body had always been a little strange, sending her a single painful signal just an hour or two before her period inevitably started.
Of course Adrien would know that! For him, they had been together for what? Eight years? Of course he would recognize the stifled groan she had unwittingly emitted.
And of course, OF COURSE, he would be an extremely amazing husband, offering to go to the store because he already knew she was out of feminine products.
Just what kind of husband even knows that kind of information?
Marinette's already erratic heart skipped a beat as she surfaced, inhaling a much needed breath.
Sometimes Adrien really did seem perfect...
"I just can't believe the future Marinette wouldn't have a single pad or tampon anywhere in this house." Tikki's voice broke Marinette's thoughts, effectively stopping her from going down the rabbit hole of dreaming about Adrien. The little kwami sat back on the edge of the tub, scratching her head. "You're always so well prepared."
"That's the part that doesn't make sense." Marinette panted, reaching for a bar of soap. "I can't believe I would actually allow that to happen. Especially knowing ahead of time about all of these events."
"Hmm… you're right." Tikki crossed her arms. "Maybe you wanted this to happen."
"And why the heck would I intentionally choose to put myself through this?!" Marinette pointed the soap bar accusingly at Tikki, the words clawing themselves out as she still fought for breath. There was no way. No way she would purposely do this.
"I don't know." Tikki shrugged. "Maybe it's important."
"Important ho-"
"AKUMA ALERT. AKUMA ALERT." A loud, computerized voice echoed through the house, causing Marinette to freeze, dropping the soap into her bath.
Geez.
Would there ever be a chance for her heart to slow down?
And… did they seriously have an akuma alert system? She blinked, unbelievingly listening to the obnoxious sound.
No. She shook her head. She shouldn't be surprised. This was Ladybug and Chat Noir's house. Of course they would have something installed to warn them of the appearance of an akuma. If they were there together, it wasn't as if one of them could just call the other out. No. They simply had to have a quick way to find out if neither of them was out of the house.
"What are you going to do?" Tikki's concerned voice pierced through Marinette's revelation.
Marinette fumbled her hand at the bottom of the tub, trying to find the missing bar of soap, her breath still uneven. "W-what do you mean?"
Tikki pushed her shoulder, forcing her sit straight up. "I mean," she cleared her throat. "Are you going to fight?"
Marinette coughed, staring incredulously into Tikki's eyes. "What? I'll just leave it up to the adult Chat Noir and Ladybug."
Tikki's eyes widened, a look of seriousness in them that Marinette hadn't experienced in a long time. "You don't get it do you?" Tikki pointed directly towards Marinette. "Right now, you're the only Ladybug around."
Marinette's breath faltered, her heart sinking at the sudden realization at something so seemingly obvious. Chat Noir needed Ladybug, and right now, she was the only Ladybug that was able to be by his side.
"But-" she exclaimed reaching for the bathtub plug. "How am I supposed to fight without any feminine products?!"
Tikki grinned, a wild uncharacteristically mischievous smile that somehow, no matter how foreign, seemed to fit perfectly on her face. "Just leave that to me, Mare. Your costume is magic after all."
"Right!" Marinette stood, stepping out of the bathtub and not even bothering to dry off. This was her duty - her job. No one else could help Adrien right now. It was up to her, regardless if she was from another time. Ladybug would never let Chat Noir down. She would never let him fight without her being right there by his side. "Tikki, spots on!"
A surge of pink magic enveloped the superheroine, feeling familiar, yet all too untrodden at the same time. Nothing about the transformation process in itself was inherently different. Yet it was the destination that was different this time. Ladybug was about to go fight alongside her husband.
Chat Noir was no longer just her silly, pun loving partner.
No.
He was Adrien Agreste.
And she was his future bride.
"Let's do this!" she shouted confidently, rushing into the bedroom and out the sliding door to the balcony. She extended her yoyo to a nearby tree, flinging herself into the welcoming morning sky. Nothing would slow her down from getting to her partner's side. Not the fleeting embarrassment she had felt at sending Adrien to buy feminine products for her. Nor the tinge of guilt she had felt for longing for something she was not yet ready for. No. Marinette would not be distracted from her mission.
Not even by the slight, seemingly misplaced movement she noticed out of the corner of her eye…