Adrien stirred his coffee a few times more than necessary, trying to make an irritant sound with the constant crash of the spoon against the mug.
Alya and Nino were sleeping on his apartment floor. It wasn't unusual for Nino to end up sleeping on the floor since he refused to take Adrien's offers to buy another bed or go to a hotel where he would be more comfortable; the unusual thing was Alya, which meant that something had happened.
He kept making noise while he moved around the kitchen, hoping it would make his friends wake up, he had already tried to do it on his own and it hadn't worked, so he hoped that being annoying would work.
And it did. Twenty minutes of annoying noises and Nino's head popped up above the couch.
"When did you arrive?" He asked in the middle of a yawn. "We didn't hear you come home"
"From work around ten o'clock, then went for a patrol and came back before midnight, you were both already sleeping. I tried to wake you up but I almost got hit so I desisted."
"Ugh," Alya said, alerting Adrien that she was awake too. Rubbing the back of her neck she walked to Adrien's side. "What time is it now?"
"Past ten," Adrien gave his mug to Alya. He had not prepared it for her but she was going to steal it anyway.
"Damn, I thought I had more time," She sighed.
"More time for what?" Nino took the cup out of Alya's hands and drank a sip of the coffee.
"I'm going to help Marinette take her stuff to the studio, today is the party and it's a big deal, you know? I have to be there for moral support too." Alya explained, "Was she nervous?"
"Are you asking me?" Adrien crooked a brow.
"Yeah? Who else has rooftops rendezvous with her at night?"
"I did not see Mari last night. She wasn't waiting for me at the rooftop and she wasn't home either,"
"Marinette wasn't home? That's strange. Did you check the bakery?"
"Yes, she wasn't there either. She was probably at Nath's"
"I don't think so,"
"Why not?" Nino asked with his mouth full, what made him win a soft slap on his shoulder, courtesy of Alya.
"Ugh, just stuff…" She made a face that let know that it wasn't just as light as she made it seem. "It doesn't matter right now, okay? We got more important things to talk about"
"Don't we always?" Adrien looked at Nino with a funny face.
"It's about Mari," That didn't surprise Adrien, "Juleka gave us valuable information"
"Juleka? When did you guys talk to Juleka?" That did. His curiosity sparked like a firecracker, "How does she fit here?"
"She was at Alya's headquarters," Nino said.
"She was in one of the companies that studied Marinette's case and difference to all of them, she did find something. No surprise, Juleka has always been super smart—
"And intuitive, don't forget that" Nino added.
"Okay, we all know Juleka is great, we've always known, but can we skip what I already know and get to what I don't know. No time for suspense, guys"
"You're right," Nino nodded. He ran to the living room and came back with a book on his hands.
It wasn't the kind of book Adrien expected him to bring. Nino usually carried old books, with bent spines, golden decorations, and three times in size to the one he gave him, and they were never written in French, but this one was.
"Why are you giving me a book about cytology?"
"Because I want you to watch this picture," He pointed out at the first circle at the left, "This is how a normal epidermis tissue looks like,"
"Alright," Adrien looked at him confused.
"Now look at this," Alya said, putting her phone in front of his eyes and showing another picture of a cell sample.
They didn't have to explain, Adrien realized the differences immediately.
"That's not human tissue," He stated and took the phone out of Alya's hands. "I don't think it's from an animal or a plant either,"
"How do you know that?!" Alya and Nino shouted at the unison.
"I needed to take extra courses, and the cytology course was the only one I had time for in the second semester, so I took it" He sighed, "I still don't understand what this is about. Why are we looking at skin cells?"
"Because this picture is from a piece of chest skin Juleka took from Marinette's scar," Alya explained.
"She took it from her scar? The one we were talking about yesterday?" He asked skeptically. To get an explanation out of nowhere after months of searching was just too good to be true.
"Yes!" Alya shouted with joy.
"So, let me explain to see if I'm right. Juleka took a sample of Marinette's scar skin. After years she decided to give it another look and found a different kind of cell mixed with hers?" Alya nodded "So that means…Mari has something inside her?"
"Not just something! Show him, Nino!" Alya took Adrien by his hand and ran to the living room, where all the books were open. Nino followed, taking one of the oldest books on the table, opening and flipping the pages until he found what he was searching for.
Adrien couldn't recognize the language used in the book, but the pictures helped him a little. He had seen those kinds of shapes and swirls when training with Marinette and Master Fu years ago, one of those was the miraculous and kwamis symbols.
"I recognize the miraculous and the kwami symbols, but the rest… you'll have to translate this for me, bro,"
"It explains how the kwamis and the miraculous are not two separated entities but two parts of a whole," Nino explained. "Wayzz!"
Adrien looked around to find the green kwami, he usually was glued to Nino, more than Plagg was to him, so it was strange that he hadn't spoken already.
"Wayzz!" Nino shouted again, this time worried.
"Plagg?" Adrien called for his kwami too. "Plagg?!"
"We're here, we're! We heard you the first time, you hysterical guys" Plagg screamed, just after passing through the closed door.
"We are sorry, we thought you were still sleeping," Wayzz said more warmly than his friend.
"Where were you?" Nino asked.
"Next door," Wayzz answered as he sat on Nino's shoulder.
"What?" Nino and Adrien asked at the unison, more confused than mad.
"We decided it was time to analyze your princess's apartment," Plagg said to Adrien and pulled one of his locks before flying to his cabinet, looking for cheese sticks.
"I'm there all the time. Couldn't you have done it before? Marinette could have seen you!" Adrien shouted.
"One, you know as well as I do that I can't use that kind of magic when you're transformed. Two, calm down, she wasn't home, we—well Wayzz would have never let me go if she had been there. Three, we ran out of cheesy crackers we have to buy more,"
Adrien rolled his eyes. He was ready to nag Plagg when Nino began to speak, with his usual warm and calmed voice, as what the kwamis had done wasn't serious at all.
"So?" Adrien looked at his little friend.
"Nothing," Wayzz answered instead, shaking his head with disappointment "I felt magic all around the apartment, it isn't strong and it's mixed with Adrien's traces of magic too,"
"Oh yeah, that apartment reeks of Adrien," Plagg peeked his guardian's cheek playfully.
"Besides that, anything that could help us?" Nino asked, trying to hide his amused smile.
"Sadly, nothing useful was found," Wayzz shook his head. "We will have to stick to books and wait for more clues to surface,"
"Mmm..." Adrien and Nino looked at Alya.
"What's on your mind, Lya?" Nino asked, flipping pages of the book trying to see if something on them sparked a theory inside his mind.
"Just... maybe… I… ugh," Alya shook her head, "Yesterday I lashed out on Adrien when he told me he wanted to reveal his identity to Marinette."
Lashed out? That was a subtle description of her reaction. Alya had screamed so loud that all the pigeons around had gone flying. Adrien was still thanking the Divine's forces for keeping him safe of Alya's deathly stares. She had almost punched him in the face –on accident, but it had happened! -.
Adrien was ready to talk and ask what had made her mind give a one hundred eighty flip but Alya's expression made him remain silent.
"Things are only getting more complicated and Marinette might know more than I give her credit," She sighed, "I'm not saying that we should go and knock on her door right at this moment, but if you have the chance, you should tell her,"
Nino and Adrien stared at each other before nodding at their friend. She didn't sound happy with the statement but she was right. Marinette was the missing piece and she wasn't missing at all, if they wanted to figure this out and help her, she had to know.
"I will," Adrien promised "First chance I get I'll tell her who I am,"
"You have to be careful, don't tell her immediately because I will be too much,"
"Of course," Adrien nodded and the silence took over the room.
Revealing Marinette's past was a big step for Alya. She had been protecting her from those memories for years, she had been trying to keep Marinette away of the dangers that had almost taken her away.
Not a day passed without her remembering how she found Marinette those years ago. In the middle of an old room, eyes open, unconscious, wounds all over her, blood all around her. She remembered the room, the earth tones, and the smell of it, the path made of blood that started around her and went to the window, the shattered glass of the window that Marinette must have broken to get in that room.
Every little memory of that place was still vivid for her. Every time Marinette laughed, she saw it, every time Marinette cried, she saw it, and every time Marinette hurt herself –with something as little as a piece of paper- Alya was transported back to it. And she could endure it, she could live with those memories because they were in the past because she had Marinette right in front of her and she didn't remember that horrible room or the pain that she must have felt.
What was going to happen now? She was going to know the truth and that probably would trigger something inside of her mind; the subject was too heavy to let it slip. What was going to happen without those protections? She would be in danger again and Alya couldn't lose her.
But, she wasn't alone anymore, she wasn't the only one protecting Marinette. Nino and Adrien were here and she knew she could count on them. Maybe that's why the hard decision she had just made didn't feel so heavy on her shoulders. Nino and Adrien were holding the weight with her now, and she had to trust them.
She sighed. "I'm going, Marinette needs my help," She smiled a little nervous.
"Have fun, it's going to be an exciting day for you too, I hope everything goes smooth," Nino said, smiling warmly at her.
"Take care of my suit, okay? I want to look good," Adrien winked at her, with those words he tried to bring back the joy.
"Do you ever look bad?" Alya crooked a brow. That was exactly the answer Adrien was expecting, and it made him giggle.
"Do I ever look bad, Nino?"
"By all the rules of Earth the answer to that should be yes, but I have no proof of it, so I can't assure it,"
Alya gave a big laugh before leaving the room.
xx
Marinette is acting strangely.
That's what Alya had said to Adrien.
Obviously, she hadn't meant for Marinette to hear it, so Marinette acted like she hadn't. It bothered her, it was the truth but Marinette didn't want Adrien to know, not today, or at least not now that she was going to have to interact with him.
Marinette pretended she had not seen Adrien come in. Taking her phone, she opened her latest chat and texted Nathanael.
I can't do this.
Nath's answer appeared immediately, as he had been waiting for her to text him.
Of course, you can. Just tonight, Mari, it's just tonight. Pretend that everything is okay and if you need help don't doubt to call me, I'll pick you up. But remember, this is your night. Mari's night, not Ladybug's, not Chat Noir's, just Marinette the amazing designer.
Marinette smiled. He really was one of a kind, it was really sad that she wasn't in love with him anymore because he was the greatest. After last night, there was no doubt that he was an amazing person.
Marinette was so grateful to still have him. He could have resent her and hate her after the breakup, but he did not –that wasn't him- and even if he did not, it wasn't his responsibility to take care of her or help her through her issues, he didn't have to take that extra mile for her.
Thank you for everything, Nath. I'll try my best.
"Marinette!" Alya's called her.
Marinette looked up, she was pointing at Adrien who was smiling and waving at her. It was time to put on a show.
She pretended to be surprised and walked in their direction. Marinette wasn't a good liar, so she wasn't able to fake a convincing smile, it was impossible to do it in that moment, when all the emotions were hitting her, falling on her shoulders like a heavy storm. She was going to keep saying she was nervous, she was going to keep bringing the same excuses so no one would ask if there was something really wrong, and she was going to keep quiet as long as she could so the truth wouldn't spill out of her lips.
"Hi, Mari," Adrien smiled at her once she was in front of him.
He looked radiant, not news to anyone, Adrien was made of liquid sunshine and solid star-dust, it was impossible for him not to shine and irradiate happiness. That was what Adrien Agreste was and she couldn't believe she had thought the opposite of him. But this was not the moment to think of that, this was no moment to think about Adrien Agreste at all.
"Hi," She gave a quick half smile, just to be friendly because this was Adrien, she couldn't be mean to him not even if she tried. "The hair stylists and the makeup artist are at the end of the room," She pointed them out.
"Hair and makeup? That's new," Adrien crooked a brow while looking at the improvised hair station at the interns' workroom. "My father, well better said, Nathalie, gives them a list of what acceptable and what is not and lets the interns help themselves."
"Yeah, but past years interns didn't have Marinette and his son attending with them," Marceline said appearing behind Alya.
"Makes sense," Adrien giggled. "But shouldn't you go first, you're the stars of the show after all,"
"Models first," The three girls said at the unison, which made Adrien laugh.
"Okay, okay," He said with his hands up, in front of his chest as he was protecting himself. He looked cute.
Marinette sighed and rubbed her temples with her tips of her fingers. She watched Adrien leave, making his way to the hair station.
He looked completely relaxed and he seemed happy to be there. Which was strange. In Marinette's eyes, he always looked uncomfortable in the workshop, no matter how well he was at hiding it, she had noticed it on multiple occasions. But today that wasn't the case, he looked like was truly enjoying the visit.
Adrien was happy, his guard seemed to be down and he was already cracking jokes with the team. He effortlessly charmed everyone around him; Adrien was the star of the show without even trying and that was going to help her tonight.
She could do this, she just had to let Adrien take the lead and she would follow. She was going to ignore everything and pretend life was great, that no problems existed and that her brain wasn't a time bomb with a missing clock. She was going to follow Adrien's lead, he wasn't going to disappoint her. She was going to trust Adrien tonight.
xx
Alya had warned him: Marinette was acting strangely. He had an idea in his mind of how to treat her when she was acting this way, as Chat Noir he had stumbled with Marinette's odd actions multiple times, so he knew how to handle them. But today she wasn't acting on the strange ways he was used to seeing.
To start off, Marinette had changed his makeup style five times. She was organized, especially when it came to fashion, she had a clear vision of what she wanted and she rarely doubted her instinct when it came to these kinds of decisions and today she had spent fifteen minutes choosing between two eye shadow colors.
Then there was the chit-chat. Marinette was amicable with everyone and she never ignored a conversation but right now she would not shut up, she was rambling about everything and nothing, her words twisted and tangled between them and she was not aware of the no sense phrases she was throwing away non-stop. Rambling was equal to a nervous Marinette, but this degree of rambling had to bond to a different emotion.
If he was Chat Noir right now he would have asked, but he was Adrien and Adrien was just winning Marinette's trust, he couldn't ask what was wrong so simply.
Sébastien and Marceline also noticed Marinette's strange state, but they were too busy being nervous themselves to look more into it than what met the eye.
While he was getting his makeup done, he followed every step Marinette made, trying to figure it out from that distance what could be bothering her. He was especially worried about yesterday's collapse, what if it happened today? Marinette had to focus on shining and show off her amazing designer attributes, she did not have time to freak out today. Adrien wanted to make sure that she had the time of her life, that was the goal he had set up this morning, he wanted to make her night memorable and her odd attitude was messing with that goal.
After half an hour of following her with his eyes, Marinette sat in front of him, finally ready to get ready for the party.
Once the hair dresser started playing with her hair a relaxed expression appeared on her face. Adrien smiled at it, he knew how much she loved when people brushed her hair, he did it all the time as Chat.
"Mari," He said, almost stuttering.
"Hmm?" She rose a brow, keeping her eyes closed and her relaxed face on.
"Are you nervous?" He asked softly, worried.
Marinette didn't answer immediately, but she opened her eyes and looked straight at him.
Adrien wasn't sure of how to react to said action, he had to step back so much as his civilian self, he had to build those walls and pretend that she did not know Marinette as well as he did and sometimes it became confusing. To choose how to act in front of Mari was a tiring game.
"How many scars do you have, Adrien?" Marinette spat out.
Adrien, astonished, leaned back. That was so not what he was expecting. He waited for a moment, expecting a nervous and apologetic Marinette appeared, but she kept looking at him, waiting for an answer.
"I'm not sure," That wasn't a lie, he had lost count of them, "Why are you interested in that? It came completely out of the blue,"
"I was adjusting the last details for your suit watching at your reference pictures and realized you have one in the palm of your hand. It's one I hadn't noticed before, it just made me wonder," Adrien wasn't sure how to keep the conversation going.
Marinette had seen his scars before. Now that he thought about it, it was impossible for her not to notice, she took his measures and had reference pictures of him, of course, she had seen them. Still, this was the first time she brought them up… why? He didn't believe her catching interest on them just now.
"Oh, yeah, I have a few scars… I wasn't at the best place in the akuma attacks," He didn't want to lie about the real reason of the scars, but he couldn't reveal his identity just yet, so that was the closest thing to the truth that he could think of.
"Ah," Marinette closed her eyes once again. "Akuma attacks must have been rough. Sometimes I get flashbacks of them, there are ridiculous ones but most of them scare me a little. I can feel the panic of the people as I had been there… I mean I was but, I can't remember,"
"Yeah…" Adrien said, since the hairstylist and the makeup artist didn't include themselves into the conversation, the tension hung between them.
"You should go get dressed," Marinette suggested, "Someone will help you, once I'm ready I'll go and give the final touches,"
"Alright."
xx
"How many times have I told you that frowning like that will make you wrinkle?" The voice interrupted Adrien's thoughts, "And clenching your teeth is bad too, the dentist has told you so, also numerous times,"
The relationship with his father was better and stronger now, but his words still made him a little scared and he took them as commands. He relaxed his face and put his tongue between his teeth. If he was honest it was starting to hurt.
"It's strange to you to be here, dad," He worried about his interns, not all of them, but he did, yet he never showed it. It was odd for him to be at the workshop at these times when he usually was ordering Nathalie around about the latest details of the party.
"I wanted to see Marinette's work before anyone else,"
"You're on luck, I'm on my way to dressing up," He answered immediately, trying to avoid Marinette as a subject of the conversation.
"I'm glad, I'll help,"
"You don't have to,"
"But I want to. It's been a long time since I used you as a mannequin, Adrien. Must say you were always my favorite," Adrien smiled warmly. Coming from his father, that was a compliment.
"Okay," He shrugged.
Gabriel walked by his side, in complete silence until they entered the room he had allowed the designers to use as a dressing room.
Marceline was there, standing in front of a mirror sewing the last details of her own dress, with her model sitting next to her, helping her. Her dress was green, with a queen Anne neck decorated with emerald green squints and stones, drawing a Celtic pattern that followed a path to the back of her neck and then the ended at the back of her dress. Her style had always been more risky and edgy than Marinette's; it suited her.
"Any last-minute problems, Mademoiselle Béraut?" Gabriel asked, winning a jump of surprise from Marceline in response.
"M. Agreste," She answered, her voice shaking. "Not at all, I'm making sure the sequins at the bottom won't fall out,"
"Splendid," Gabriel nodded. He turned to Adrien, "Why are you taking so long?"
Adrien sighed. "It's a beautiful dress, Marceline," He said, "Do you know where my suit is?"
"In Marinette's hanging rail," She pointed out at the silver rail to his left, "It has your name,"
"Thank you, "He nodded and walked to pick up the hanger with his name on it. The paper was thicker than he imagined a post it to be so he took it off. Finding a note from Marinette instead of a simple tag.
He was excited until he realized they were instructions of how to carefully put the suit on. He understood her, she wanted everything to be perfect and she couldn't let anyone, especially Adrien ruin it.
He read every instruction with all the attention he had, making sure to not disappoint her. Once he got to the last one there was a surprise.
These instructions are not necessary, I know you will be careful with my work. I trust you, but I feel better if I write them (I always do)
We're a team tonight, let's do our best!
Adrien's heart fluttered and his cheeks may have been red, but he ran behind the curtain before anyone could notice.
While he was dressing he couldn't keep Marinette's words out of his mind, they were echoing in her voice.
She trusted him! She trusted Adrien!
He wasn't sure what had happened to change their relationship so drastically. Well, he had worked hard to get in Marinette's good side but he didn't know it had worked so fast!
And she had called them a team! Marinette considered him part of her team, that was what made him the happiest. If she already considered them a team and he trusted him now, it was going to be easy to get Marinette's approval once he revealed he was Chat Noir!
Adrien stared at his reflection for a few minutes, mesmerized with the smile on his face. He didn't remember the last time he had been this happy. Yeah, everything was still a mess and they had multiple problems to fix, still, things hadn't been this bright for a very long time. He had found Ladybug, Ladybug was Marinette, a woman he loved; a smart, talented and caring woman as he always imagined Ladybug to be. She considered him a good person, in and out of costume. It was nice to have those facts.
"Adrien, are you ready? I don't have all the time in the world,"
"Yeah, yeah, one sec!" This time he admired the suit. He looked fantastic, not that he expected any less of one of Marinette's works, but even after seeing the suit and tried it on multiple times, today it looked like a completely different piece.
It was a beautiful suit, with little details of a tuxedo, so you couldn't exactly tell what it was. The slopes were made of velvet but they didn't look tacky in contrast of the soft fabric –a fabric he still hadn't figured it out- the blacks matched perfectly and the silver buttons and other details were subtle but effective.
He looked taller and more sophisticated, the turtle neck of the black shirt adjusted perfectly, letting him move and breathe without any restrictions –something he always feared with those type of shirts-.
The suit was just pure perfection and his hair and makeup were the "cherry on top". The light plum eyeshadow and black eyeliner, with help of his loose messy hair and the hidden braids gave him a mysterious touch to the elegance of the suit.
Marinette was really a genius.
"Adrien…" His father longed the "e" of his name as he always did when he was impatient.
"I'm going, I'm going," Adrien opened the curtain and walked to the middle of the room, so his father could admire his friends work better.
"Wow!" Sébastien entered the room. Stars in his eyes as he watched Adrien, "I don't know if to compliment your genes or Marinette's works—
"Both," Gabriel cut. A smirk all over his face, he was very pleased with the result. "She did an incredible job, it fits you like a glove. And she had it ready in such little time, just as I expected," Adrien didn't answer, he let his father keep rambling, the only time he did such a thing was when he was around clothes and for some reason Adrien had always enjoyed it.
"Is Marinette still in makeup?" Marceline asked. She seemed more relaxed with Gabriel's presence now.
"Yes, but she was finishing. She said she wanted to fix a few details on your suit before dressing up, so I would wait here,"
"What details?" Adrien looked down, trying to find what could be wrong with his clothes.
"You won't find anything, son," Gabriel patted his back, "In fact, only her will see things to fix. And not matter what you tell her, she won't believe it's perfect until she sees it in the party,"
"Designers are weird," Adrien muttered, making the people in the room laugh.
"Mll. Béraut, M. Pascal are you and models ready?"
"Yes, sir," They answered at the unison.
"Perfect, let's go down stairs," He ordered, "Adrien you wait for Mademoiselle Dupain Cheng here,"
"Alright, "he waved goodbye and mouthed "good luck" to Marinette's friends before they disappeared off the room.
He wanted to sit and wait, but he wasn't sure if he could sit yet, so he stood until Marinette arrived.
