Additional Summary: What if Adrien heard Marinette when she chased his car during the New York Special? How would that have changed the rest of the movie? Where would our heroes have ended up? Would Adrien confess his own love for Marinette? Would identities be revealed? Would our lovebirds finally end up together? Find out below!
The story below is based on the characters from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. I own nothing of the show. This is purely fictitious and written for the enjoyment of my readers and myself. All rights go to the proper parties.
This is a one-shot and will not be continued.
As always, I hope you enjoy the story!!
Adrien's heart was breaking, first, he betrayed Ladybug's trust by leaving Paris unprotected. Then New York and Paris are both attacked at the same time and neither of them could do a thing about helping their home. Then Adrien nearly kills someone, an android, but still a person in all rights. A daughter, a friend, a fellow superhero.
Adrien couldn't live with himself, he didn't deserve to be Cat Noir, at least that's what he believed, so he gave it up. He renounced Plagg and ran off on his own. As if matters couldn't get any more heartbreaking, his father cut his trip short. Ordered him to leave his friends behind and return home. All alone, just like always. He didn't even get a chance to check on Marinette, she was outside too. Standing in the rain, seemingly just as sad as Adrien himself, and yet, all they could do is look at one another.
"I have to go. I'm sorry, Marinette. You fought so hard for me to be here. I wouldn't have minded being stuck here a little longer with a friend like you." He said. Hoping beyond all hope that Marinette would call to him. Beg him to stay, stand up to his father once again, and demand that Adrien be allowed to stay in New York.
But she said nothing, and Adrien's heart cracked some more, "My father's right. I should've never come to New York."
He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have expected Marinette to stand up for him once again. He shouldn't have expected anything different from his father, from himself, from his friends. He wanted to stay, he needed to stay, to be with his friends, to be with Marinette, to be safe with the people that actually cared for him. The only people that could cheer him up after he decided to abandon Ladybug. The only person that he could possibly talk to about this, that he could vent to, he's not Cat Noir anymore, he could talk to Marinette, but she just let him go. And he left. He got in the car his father sent, and he didn't look at his friends again. He couldn't. His heart had shattered, his hope had died out, and the loneliness inside him spread like a virus until it infected every part of his soul.
He sat quietly in the car, replaying each moment of his trip to New York over and over in his head, the flight, the arrival, the party, the dance, their field trip, the battle, renouncing Plagg, and leaving. The rain outside flowed freely as the car drove through the unbelievably dead roads, no other sound but the rain permeated the air.
Adrien doesn't want to look back at the hotel where his friends remained, he doesn't want to see if they're watching him leave, but he can't help but peek out the rearview mirror, and what he sees causes his heart to beat out of his chest. Marinette, sweet, precious, brave, Marinette is chasing his car on a bike. Riding as fast as she can after him.
Adrien turns in his seat and asks for the car to stop. He has to talk to Marinette again, "stop the car!" He calls, but the driver ignores him. Adrien unbuckles his seatbelt and looks out the back window to see Marinette. They turn a corner and Marinette is soon behind them again, but her bike slides and Marinette falls.
Adrien gasps, eyes wide as his car continues to take off, he yells once again, "STOP THE CAR!"
This time the driver stops, hearing the panic in Adrien's voice. The driver stops around another corner and Adrien runs from the car before as soon as the doors unlock.
He runs towards Marinette but pauses as he hears her words, "Adrien... I..." She begins to sob, "love... you..."
Adrien stands, eyes wide, heart pounding in his chest. Marinette just said she loved him. She followed him, riding a bike in the rain, and said she loves him.
He takes a deep breath and makes his way to the girl in the middle of the road. He bends down, getting as close to her as he can, and places a hand on her shoulder.
Marinette gasps and looks at Adrien as he says, "I…" he swallows deep, "do… do you mean that?" He asks.
Marinette's eyes widen, her cheeks flush, words refuse to reach her, but she nods her affirmation.
Adrien smiles wide, he screws his face up, puzzled, "as a… as a friend?" He asks, cautiously.
Marinette swallows hard, she accepts help from Adrien as he gives her a hand to stand. She shakes her head and quietly responds, "n-no… as m-more."
The smile on Adrien's face could rival the sun, sweet, beautiful Marinette loves him. Him! He guides her away from the road and to a nearby bus stop where they can hide from the rain. The two sit down before Adrien breaks their silence.
"I didn't know." He says quietly, "I thought you liked Luka."
Marinette shakes her head, "I do like Luka, he's an amazing guy, a true friend, but I have loved you since you gave me your umbrella." She explains before rambling on, "but I know you love Kagami, and I would never come between you two. I didn't mean to confess to you…" She trails off.
Adrien chuckles softly, "actually, I feel the same way towards Kagami, as you do for Luka. I'm not entirely sure that we would work out together. I care about her, but I don't love her."
"But you said you loved someone, if it's not Kagami, then who?" She asks.
Adrien sighs, "it doesn't really matter anymore, she won't see me again, or she will, but she won't recognize me. It's kinda hard to explain, but she never seemed to be interested in me anyway." He admits softly.
Marinette looks at him softly, she understands how he feels, she places a hand on his shoulder in comfort. "I lost someone that I care about too. He's not really gone, but I won't be able to see him again. I don't really know who he is, so I kind of understand how you must feel. I didn't love him, not as I love y-you, but I cared for him deeply. He was my best friend. My heart breaks for him too." She finishes.
Adrien feels his eyes begin to burn with tears and before he knows it, he's pulling Marinette into a hug. "I'm so sorry, Marinette. I- I can't return your feelings right now, I care for you, I do. I just, I love her still. Even if I will probably never talk to her personally again, I still love her, and I need time to process that. To understand my feelings for her and f-for you. Because I can't explain how happy I am to hear that you love me. How ecstatic it makes me feel and how it fills my heart with warmth and hope. I- I want to love you too, and I think I might, but I can't. I can't right now. My heart is broken and I don't think I'm ready." He says.
Marinette smiles, "I understand, Adrien. I um, I don't think I'm ready either. After losing my friend, my heart feels like it's been torn to pieces. Like it can't be whole without him in it, and we can't even think about starting a relationship when we're both so broken right now." She hugs him tightly as the two shares all the love they have for one another and their missing partners.
Neither one know how long they sat there before a voice interrupts their hug, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, New York needs Ladybug and Cat Noir!" Uncanny Valley calls.
The two separate from one another before Marinette stammers a response, "I-I'm sorry... I-I-I can't help you. I don't know them!"
"Your suit's quantum masking is meant to confuse-" Uncanny Valley detransforms into Aeon, "-human minds, Ladybug. I am not human!"
Marinette and Adrien gasp together, "What?!"
Adrien looks to Marinette like she grew a second head, d-did Uncanny Valley just reveal that Marinette is Ladybug? Oh my God! Marinette is Ladybug! Does that mean I'm the friend she was talking about? Oh my God! Marinette loves him, Ladybug loves him, and he loves them! Or her! He loves both parts of her.
Adrien smiles widely as Aeon speaks, "Miraclonizer is really an akumatized Techno-Pirate. Which means Hawk Moth is in New York too! We cannot defeat them without the girl who can fix everything and her partner."
Marinette pulls out the Cat Miraculous from her pocket. She opens her fist and looks at it sadly as she speaks, "I don't know if I can do this... I can't imagine being Ladybug without him."
Adrien places his hand on the hand Marinette held the miraculous in, he smiles softly and speaks, "I think I can fix that, Bugaboo." He says simply.
Marinette gasps as Tikki and Plagg fly from her purse, "K-kitty? Adrien, y-you're Cat Noir?"
He nods his confirmation before Marinette jumped on him for another hug, "don't ever do that to me again!" She yells.
"I'm sorry. I was so afraid to disappoint you that I didn't dare telling you the truth. I was so stupid." Adrien responds.
The two separate from the hug, tears in their eyes, Marinette gives Adrien back his miraculous, and the two fist bump happily, "pound it!"
Soon the two heroes transform and save New York with the help of some of the resident heroes. Eventually, they detransform once again and slowly make their way back to their hotel, hand in hand.
"So, m'lady, can you love a kitty as much as you love a model?" Adrien asks.
Marinette smiles, "hmm, I'm not really sure." Adrien looks at her worriedly before she continues, "I think I love a certain kitty more. I love a certain model more now too. Now that I know my best friend is the boy I've been hopelessly in love with, I don't need to hide from my feelings anymore. I love you, Adrien. All of you. Puns and all." She finishes.
Adrien smiles widely, "I love you too Marinette, both in and out of costume. I have always cared for you, I have always felt that innate need to protect your civilian self more than others." He rubs the back of his neck, "I can't believe I didn't realize my feelings for you sooner. We spent the night dancing in the moonlight while floating in the air. That's super romantic! Not just any dancing, slow dancing, and I initiated it." He exclaims before groaning, "I am so oblivious."
Marinette chuckles, "you were just blinded by your love for Ladybug, just like I was blinded by my love for Adrien and couldn't see the daring kitty right in front of me."
The two smile as they arrive at the hotel. Adrien squeezes Marinette's hand tightly, "father is going to be so mad that I ditched the car. What am I going to tell him?"
Marinette smiles, "I convinced him to let you come here, maybe I can convince him to let you stay. We can blame you leaving the car on the akuma. You came back to the hotel with me when it was safe." She suggests.
"If anyone can convince him, it's you." Adrien responds.
Marinette's smile grows, "now we just have to get through Alya and Nino. They're going to be all over us once we get inside." She nods her head towards the door.
Adrien chuckles, "well, we tell them some of the truth. You fell in the road, I helped you up, and we hid away safely during the akuma fight."
Marinette chuckles, "and some secrets and confessions came out while we hid. There's no way we can explain away us holding hands and acting closer unless we tell them I confessed to you."
"Deal, but we also tell them I confessed to you two. And then I asked you to be my girlfriend." Adrien says.
Marinette gasps, "g-girlfriend?"
Adrien smirks, "I don't think we have broken hearts anymore, considering we broke each others hearts and healed them in the same night. So, will you? Will you be my girlfriend?"
Marinette blushes and nods her head, "of course kitty, but we should be careful. We can't suddenly be a couple in both forms without revealing ourselves."
Adrien contemplates that for a moment before an idea comes to his head, "good point, so how about you and I begin dating now, and Ladybug and Cat Noir start dating in a month or two?"
Marinette smiles, "I think that'll work, but we will need to stay focused on battle, so no flirting!"
Adrien pouts, "but you like my flirting. Besides, I have to flirt, Paris will question me if I all of a sudden stop flirting with you."
Marinette rolls her eyes, "fine, but only when we are safe. You have to work on your timing."
With those final words, the two walk to the entrance of the hotel, ready to face their friends, Adrien's father, and their future as a couple.
~BONUS~
"What do you mean he asked you out?!" Chloe yells at Marinette while everyone in class stares at them.
Adrien chuckles, "exactly that, Chloe." He picks up Marinette's hand and kisses the back of it, "I asked her out and she said yes." He speaks louder so everyone can hear him, "Marinette and I are dating!"
The class cheers as their second favorite couple in all of Paris finally got together. Now they just have to wait for Ladybug and Cat Noir to get together.
"It's about time, dude." Nino says.
"Girl, you have got to tell me what happened tonight." Alya says to Marinette.
"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" Chloes scoffs and storms away, Sabrina follows closely behind.
"It was 100% certainty that you two would eventually get together. A 60% likelihood that it would happen on this trip, and a 30% likelihood that Marinette would be the one to officially confess first," Max says.
Alix looks at Max, "30% chance that Marinette would be the one to confess first, I didn't even know Adrien liked her that much."
Max pushes his glasses up on his nose, "I was 80% sure of Adrien's feelings towards her before this trip and 100% sure after their dance last night. It's clear that Marinette is hindered by her stammering, and Adrien so far has been the one to initiate both of their dances and most of their meet ups. It seems logical that he would have been more likely to officially confess first. Of course, Marinette would no doubt have many failed attempts at confessing." He finishes.
Kim rolls his eyes at his best friend, "okay man, we get it. Marinette is a hopeless rambler and you knew about Adrien's feelings before anyone else."
Max opens his mouth to speak again, but he's interrupted by Rose, "so cute! Congratulations you two!"
She runs to give them both a hug before stepping away and Juleka joins her, mumbling an incoherent congratulations to the new couple.
Marinette and Adrien smile at one another as the rest of the class share their joy over their new relationship status. Afterwards, Marinette and Adrien call his father, and after a long chat with him, he's given permission to stay. Marinette really has the magical ability to convince the enigmatic Gabriel Agreste. At the end of the night, Adrien lays in his bed with one thought in his mind, coming to New York was the best decision he ever made.