Present day...
Marinette groggily peeked her eyes open, blearily blinking at the posters of Adrien taped up on her ceiling. There was an awful trolling noise somewhere off to her right, but she was too tired to turn it off-
"Marinette! Happy Birthday!" Tikki chirped, popping up in her field of vision.
That woke her up.
"Tikki! It's my birthday!" She nearly shrieked before rolling out of bed.
And onto the floor. At least she had been smart enough the night before to lay cushions and blankets out.
(She did this most nights as most mornings she woke up and forgot she slept in the loft.)
"Help me find my mark!" She shrieked, accidentally calling the attention of her parents waiting in the kitchen below. They had decided to open late today, as their only child would only get one soulmark, and that would happen today, and damnit they wanted to see!
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Her father shouted as he shot up into her room, arms outstretched. Her mother followed close behind with a wide smile.
"Have you found it yet?" Her mother asked with clear excitement.
"Not yet!" Marinette whined. "I just woke up!"
Only slightly disheartened, her parents started back down the stairs so she could take off her pjs in search of her mark.
"WAIT!" Her parents spun around and practically jumped back into her room.
"LOOK!" She shouted, pulling her sleeve up farther to expose the green smear she had spotted.
Only to reveal...
"A black cat?!"
Tom's grin widened. "Well! Now he'll have to give up on Ladybug!"
"Papa!" She groaned as her mother came over and grabbed her wrist for a better look.
"Yes, yes, I dare say this means Chat Noir. How lovely!"
Marinette spluttered. "I don't thinkso!"
Her mother frowned. "Why not? He seems like a nice enough boy, and you had that crush on him before, Dear, and he's a superhero." Her mother gave her a sly grin which she did not return.
"Exactly. Which means I can't tell anyone who my soulmate is!" She wailed. "Or then Hawkmoth will target me to get to him, and if people know my soulmate is Chat Noir, if he ever shared his identity with me- which isn't safe for anyone!- then if I was seen with any other guy people would connect the dots and realize it's him!"
Her parents blinked at her with wide eyes.
"Oh dear." Her mother said.
"Yeah."
...
"Marinette!" Alya shrieked as she crashed into her best friend, scooping her up in a hug and spinning her around. "HAPPPPYYY BIIIIRTHDAY!!!"
Marinette blushed and laughed awkwardly, thanking Alya.
"Sooo! Show me your mark!" Alya said, grabbing her friend by the shoulders.
"Uhm..." Marinette looked away awkwardly, her eyes falling in not only Nino but also Adrien, Alix, and Rose watching excitedly. Well, some of them excitedly. Adrien... well, he looked like he was going to throw up.
Oh God, he's probably worried I have him or something, and he's disgusted.
For the first time that day it occurs to her that her soulmate isn't Adrien.
She doesn't even have to fake the droop to her shoulders when she lies, "I can't. I haven't, Uh- I haven't found it yet."
Silence.
Rose wailed and Alix groaned, walking off. Nino looked confused and Adrien was chewing on his lip, God, why was he so pretty? And Alya-
"I don't buy it."
Wasn't buying it.
"W-what?" Marinette asked nervously.
It had been her parents' idea to say she just hadn't found it yet. Plenty of people didn ever get soulmarks, so she could always say that and then secretly get with her soulmate and then say the marks just appeared, and-
"There's no way that someone as amazing and beautiful as you doesn't have a soulmate."
"Oh, uh, wow... Thanks, Alya. But uhm. I just haven't found it yet! I'm sure it'll pop up."
Alya pursed her lips. "Mhm. Sure. I think you just don't want to tell me. Give me your arm."
"Wh-What?!" Has her makeup rubbed off? Could she see green peeking out??? She had worn long sleeves for a reason, damnit-
"You never wear long sleeves. And if you were waiting for you mark to pop up I would think you'd wear shorter sleeves, so you'll know right away if it shows up on your arms."
... Fuck.
"Oh. I- I just wanted to make sure I was the first to see it. If I wore short sleeves, someone else might see it first. You know?"
"Yeah, sure, girl. Give me your arms."
Marinette slowly held them out, praying to God that the makeup wouldn't rub off when she slid her sleeves up.
She watched with baited breath as Alya ripped first one sleeve up and then the other.
The breath blew out of her in relief when her arms looked just as blank as always.
"... Oh." Alya said, quickly looking over her shoulder at, Marinette assumed, Nino.
"Yeup. It's ok, though. I'm sure it'll come by the end of the day."
...
"Ok. It's the end of the day. Where's it at?" Alya asked, hands on her hips.
Marinette gave her an incredulous look. "I can't just take all my clothes off here."
A choking noise came from in front of them and they turned in time to catch a bright red Adrien running from the room.
Marinette groaned. "Is he really that disgusted by me?"
Nino and Alya shared a look before giving her identical shrugs.