Chat Noir's boots hit the balcony, alerting Marinette that he had finally arrived. She scurried for the hatch at the head of her bed, pushing it open with glee. The moment she appeared, he thrust a bouquet of roses into her hands, all red and pink, twelve in number.
"Kitty!" She laughed, inhaling in their scent. "Thank you so much!"
"Only the best for my love-bug!" He beamed, watching her set them on the shelf near her bed. "Because I love you~!"
"I love you, too. Be right back!" Marinette grinned, ducking back onto her bed, scampering across it until she reached the ladder. She slid down it, dashed to her trap door, then opened it so that she could call down below. "Adrien's here!"
"Thank you, Marinette!" Sabine laughed, sounding quite energized. "Take your time bringing him down!"
"But not too long!" Tom warned. "I want you two down here in ten minutes for a movie, okay?"
"Right!" Marinette nodded, closing the trap door before running back over to the balcony, climbing onto it. "Sweetie, Mama and Papa are expecting us downstairs for a movie in ten minutes, by the way. You want to talk for a bit before we go down, or help prepare snacks?"
"Could we actually talk up here for a bit?" He inquired, glancing around nervously.
"Okay, sweetie!" She nodded, closing the hatch. "What do you want to talk about? The new Ultimate Mecha Strike game? The new Miraculous movie that's coming out? What's this, number five?"
"'No' on all counts." He said, shaking his head. "I actually wanted to talk about…us."
"'Us'?" Marinette inquired, tilting her head. "What specifically?"
"The…the future." He explained, waving his hand vaguely. "What it holds and…" He paused, shrugging helplessly. "We've been together for four years. It's high time we talked about it."
"You're right." Marinette said, rubbing her temples. "I'm just going to go ahead and assume that when we talked about the time post-Hawkmoth's defeat doesn't exactly count as 'discussing the future'."
"A year has passed since Father's time as Hawkmoth came to an end." Chat Noir said, frowning. "We've already completed all that stuff. Except for Alya-"
"-and Nino's wedding." Marinette finished. "Which is only two weeks away."
"Exactly." Chat Noir nodded. "We need to figure it all out more in depth."
Marinette's eyebrows knit together. "Like what, though? Things are good right now. We don't need to change anything, right?"
"Marinette, I-" he paused, frowning for a long moment. "I want to talk to you about something very important."
She stared up at him, amused. "Important? Like the future?"
"No, I mean…" He looked away. Touching his side quietly, right below where his pocket sat. "I mean you've...you've done so much for me. When I messed up and I got my identity revealed, you gave me a second chance, you helped me when my father…" he shook his head. "No matter what I did, you supported me and were my friend. That's the most I ever wanted, and then you expanded on that and became my girlfriend, and you loved me more than I thought you would, and...you still love me."
"Aw, my kitty," Marinette giggled, playing with her side ponytail. "Of course I do, you're amazing, and-"
"No, wait, I'm not done." He insisted. "I love you very much, too, and what I'm...well, what I want to say is…" Chat Noir looked at her, love and devotion in his eyes. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Ladybug-" he dropped onto one knee, pulling a velvet, mahogany box from his pocket. "-Will you marry me?" He flipped it open, revealing a golden ring framed with a sapphire and a diamond.
She stared down at it, shocked. She hadn't even suspected that he'd propose to her, even after four years. Even with all the talk about the future. And yes, she wanted to, and-
Wait. Was she...crying?!
Marinette wiped her eyes, pulling it back to reveal the salty water running down her cheeks. She looked from her fingers to Chat Noir's hopeful face, to her fingers, and then back…
To find large kitty eyes staring back.
Well, that settles it. She was never going to be able to say 'no' now. Even if she had wanted to.
"Yes!" She said, sniffling. "Yes, always and forever!"
He jumped upwards, holding out the ring to slip on her finger, grinning like the stupid kitty he was.
It wasn't until it was on her finger and she was gazing at it in absolute awe that he began to cry, staring at her with all the love in the world.
"You know-" he said into her ear as he hugged her, laughing quietly. "You always rub it in my face how much you love making me cry - in a good way."
"Mmhmm…" she murmured into his shoulder. "And you figured it was high time you did the same?"
"That's right." He purred. He pulled back, gazing at her with stunning endearment. "Ready to break the good news to your parents?"
"Not yet." She smiled back, shuffling back into his embrace. "I want to stay with my fiance a little longer."
Fiance. They were almost locked in the eternal promise to love one another forever, the oath that they would never break. It wasn't even a scary thought. She was so excited for it to be made certain. For them to finally be together forever.
October Snow is a song written by Hayd, and it's one of my favorites. 3