"Marine-e-e-ette!" Alya's whined over the phone.
"No, Alya, I mean it."
"But… but… but…"
"I'm serious! The answer is no!"
Alya's lower lip poked out and trembled, and her eyes went wide…
"Don't you dare do babydoll eyes with me," Marinette growled, the edge of her voice softening, betraying her. Alya leaned closer to the camera so her pout filled the screen. "I'm going to hang up on you now…" Marinette tried. "Oh ok fine but just one!"
"Yes!" Alya squealed with delight. "Of course, now I have to pick my favorite… should it be the one of Ladybug and Chat Noir hugging with the fountain behind them, or should it be Ladybug booping Chat's nose on the Eiffel Tower? Or maybe…"
"I'm thinking I should have never sat next to you last year."
Alya didn't make eye contact, as she was still thumbing through the pictures on her tablet. "You love me. You know you love me."
"Quit pushing your luck. I gotta jet. So, until next time, Bug out," Marinette giggled. Alya waved goodbye absentmindedly and Marinette hung up. She checked the time—still twenty minutes before Adrien would finish his piano lesson. Still, Marinette hated being late when she was meeting him, so she pulled on her shoes and thumped downstairs, grabbed a box of chouquettes, and bid her parents adieu.
The afternoon sun was already fading, but Marinette fanned her arms and neck out to collect as much of it as possible as she walked toward the Agreste mansion. She parked herself on her favorite bench just across the street from the mansion and pulled out the sleek silver cell phone Chat Noir had given Ladybug at the beginning of summer break. Her fingers caressed its smooth exterior, before instinctively swiping up and typing ChatNoirIsHAWT! into the password entry box with a little grin. He'd set up the phone, and it felt almost like cheating to change the password… Ladybug was not a cheater. Nope.
Marinette opened the picture gallery and scrolled through the photos she'd just finished sending Alya, determined to prove her best friend and confidante wrong. She had not been more flirtatious as of late. She had not been snuggling with Chat Noir. She was not getting closer to him.
The first picture clearly showed Ladybug's arm around Chat Noir's waist. Well, that one was taken out of context, as anyone with eyes could tell. In the second, Ladybug was turned away from Chat, but had a soft little smile playing at the corners of her mouth as Chat tightened one of her pigtails. Oh come on, he'd just said something funny! It was ok to laugh at his jokes! The third, Ladybug was positively pink with blush as Chat Noir's tail whipped out of the frame. Marinette zoomed in on this one on her own face, as she couldn't recall biting her lip and scrunching her nose like that before…
"Whatchya looking at?" her favorite voice in the world said into her left ear. She startled but had finally gained enough composure not to accidentally throw her phone. Instead, she seamlessly powered it down and slid it into her purse while turning to smile into those handsome green eyes.
"Hey, Adrien!" she piped.
"Seriously, what were you looking at?"
She chewed the inside of her lip and winked at him. "Mind your own business."
"Oh, you're going to be like that, then," he shrugged. "If you insist."
"How do you know I wasn't working on something for your birthday?"
Adrien's eyes widened, "Wait, my birthday? How did you know my birthday was coming up?"
She laughed. "Um, unless you somehow managed to change it, it should be the same day as it was last year."
He slid to the bench beside her, close enough that their shoulders brushed, and Marinette shivered. "You've got a point. But in my defense, I didn't remember you at that fiasco of a party Nino threw for me last year."
Marinette wracked her brain. It was hard enough to keep track of one life, let alone two. But she was getting better at smoothing over her tracks, and simply responded, "I don't think I could ever forget my parents getting scooped up in giant bubbles and floating into the atmosphere. But even then, I knew it was your birthday well before that party."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, I make it my point to know things about my friends," she smirked.
"Oh, that's right," he nodded with a chuckle. "So you'll probably know exactly what I want this year," he teased, leaning toward her slowly and dropping his chin so that his hair fell across his forehead and blended with his eyelashes. Marinette's breath caught in her throat.
"U-uuh," she stuttered, "Of—of of course!" she finally spat out.
"Really?" he crooned, now centimeters from her reddening face. "You think you have me all figured out? You know exactly what I want?"
"Yeah?" His hand slid across her lap and brushed against her back arm, sending fire up to Marinette's scalp.
"You sure? Because what I want, more than anything, is…" he sighed, his breath dancing across her lips. Marinette closed her eyes and braced herself… "Chouquettes!"
Marinette's eyes flew back open as she watched him sneak a cream puff from the box beside her and toss it into his mouth. She folded her arms grouchily and growled at him, "Have you no shame?"
He was cackling through his mouthful of crunchy sugar and delicate pastry but draped his arm around Marinette's shoulder and pulled her a little closer. Marinette tried to be stoic against his teasing, but he laughed so effortlessly—she loved it when he dropped his guard and let her see into his soul. She pressed the box of chouquettes into his chest and teased, "There. If that's all you wanted, I'll just be on my way."
"No wait, Marinette, come back," he giggled, gently taking her hand to prevent her from marching away. "You brought me chouquettes, I'm more than happy to give you another lesson in Chinese."
She nodded her consent and pulled out her normal pink cellphone to take recordings and notes again. Adrien began the lesson by reviewing the greetings, how to ask for directions, and a few other basic words that he'd taught her a few days ago. While Marinette had been practicing dutifully, she still had a long way to go.
"Ugh!" she moaned after messing up the pronunciation of pàocài for the third time in a row. "I don't even like pickles! I'll just not say that word!"
Adrien smiled and patted her hand tenderly. "It's ok, you're doing really well," he reassured.
She scowled at him. "You don't have to lie. I know full well that I'm lousy at speaking Chinese." She dropped her head between her knees and gave a pathetic little whimper. Adrien laughed. "You're really improving, though."
She flipped again to look him in the eye, "But not nearly fast enough! I need to be fluent, like yesterday!"
His eyebrows furrowed. "What's the rush?"
Marinette choked a bit. Hey, Adrien, I'm Ladybug and I've been having you teach me Chinese so that I can go to Tibet and meet with the other guardians and get some formal training… nope, that wouldn't work. "My… mom has been thinking about taking me to visit my uncle."
He didn't buy it. "Your uncle speaks French, though.""Yeah, but…" Marinette chewed her lower lip as she tried to think of a decent excuse. Adrien was better at seeing through her excuses than anyone else she knew. Where was Alya when she needed her? She ended up shrugging and grumbling beneath her breath, "I just want to speak Chinese, that's all."
He patted her shoulder affectionately and changed the subject to spare Marinette's feelings from any more self-inflicted barbs. "Hey, remember that amazing hat you made for the Gabriel contest last year?"
Marinette laughed. "The one that made you sneeze? How could I forget?"He chuckled in response, "Well, the contest is starting up again. The theme this year is shoes, and I was thinking—you should enter again! You're really the best designer!"
Her eyes sparkled with delight at his compliment. "You really think so?"
"I know so."
"Shoes… let me think. Shoes are tough, though. I've only done a couple of pairs in my life…"
Adrien smirked, "Don't be so modest. I'm friends with Chat Noir, remember? He showed me the outfit you made for him." Her jaw dropped. "I think you should ask him for the shoes back—just for the duration of the contest, of course—and enter those. He won't shut up about them; says they're the most comfortable thing he's ever worn outside of being transformed."
"Wait, Chat Noir really said that?" Marinette's heart was hammering. Why was it hammering? She took a deep steadying breath."Yep," Adrien replied with a coy grin. "Well… if that's the case… maybe I will submit Chat's shoes for the contest. Oh, and maybe I could also… as a companion piece… oh, that would be amazing…"
Adrien laughed. He loved it when Marinette's mind wandered off down the road-with-no-return known as creativity.
Both Marinette's and Adrien's phones (and Marinette's silver cell phone) started buzzing frantically. Marinette jumped, Adrien groaned. "Akuma alert, I guess?" he sighed.
"We do still live in Paris," she shrugged.
"It's been so long that I was hoping Hawkmoth had given up."
She laughed. "A week is hardly a long time, Adrien. Back when Ladybug and Chat Noir were just getting started, Akuma attacks were this far, if not farther apart."
He nodded slowly. "Well, I'd better get inside."
She stood, "Yeah, my parents like it when I check in during akuma attacks."
They stood and awkwardly stared at each other for a long moment. Marinette wanted to escort him inside his mansion, make sure he was safely tucked in his room with all the security gates and windows locked… or at least just give him a hug… but Tikki started nudging her from inside her purse. The truth was that Marinette and Adrien had been treading new relationship waters these last few weeks. It seemed to have started at the beginning of this new school year, though Marinette wasn't sure what had triggered the change. All she knew was that Adrien had gone on a few dates with Kagami before the summer. It had been painful, but she worked hard to make peace with the two of them being together. And then, about a month into the summer, Adrien had been whisked off to England for a two-week business trip, and his first day there he'd revealed to a massive press corps that he was in love with someone else. Kagami insisted it wasn't her, Marinette had been heart broken and nearly akumatized… and then Chat came by. Marinette had realized, for the first time since knowing Chat Noir, that her feelings for him ran deeper than 'just friends.' She'd kissed him, more than once, and just as she was on the brink of exploring a relationship with Chat Noir, there was an exhausting couple of weeks where Lila had managed to steal Chat's ring and suddenly everything was crisis mode. She'd learned to rely on Chat and had even told him everything about her feelings for Adrien, and he'd confided a great deal in her as well. In the end, Marinette felt like Chat Noir was the missing piece of her heart she didn't know was gone. She was on the brink of letting Chat know she was ready to advance their relationship… when school started again and Adrien asked her out. She thought she'd just go on a friendly date with Adrien, no big deal—and then he took her hand and she'd melted. They laughed together, they goofed around together, but they also had deep, serious conversations and Marinette had never dreamed, in all her abundant fanciful dreams about Adrien, that a relationship with him could be this great.
There was Chat Noir. The missing piece of her heart that she never wanted to hurt or be separated from. Her home, her rock, her most trusted confidante and her closest friend.
There was also Adrien, her first love, and rapidly becoming this warm companion who understood her and brought the best out in her.
Not for the first time today, Marinette found herself staring into the endless emerald stare and feeling split precisely down the middle. She wanted to throw her arms around him, hold him, kiss him maybe, and never let him go. But the nudge from Tikki made her stomach churn with anticipation—she was about to go see Chat Noir. She swallowed hard and reminded herself that she was happy pursuing something with Adrien and she was absolutely, completely totally, one-hundred percent not in love with Chat Noir.
"Uh, Marinette?"
"Wait, what?" she squeaked. He laughed."I asked if you wanted to meet up again tomorrow?"
She slapped her cheeks back into reality. "Yes. But I really gotta get home!"
"Yeah, I'll text you."
"Please do!" She waved, spun on her heel and raced to the secluded alley behind Adrien's security wall. After checking to see if the coast was clear, she paused briefly to catch her breath. Get it together Marinette! This pining after two boys isn't healthy!
"Tikki, spots on!"
Adrien stood rooted to the patch of concrete in front of the bench until Marinette had rounded the corner and disappeared from view. He was tempted to chase after her, make sure she got home safely, but Plagg was already poking his chest from the pocket of his shirt. He felt the familiar twang in his stomach as her pigtails bounced out of sight.
"Adrien, get your head in the game!" Plagg's whiny voice hissed at him.
He pinched his eyes shut and tried to focus. He knew the blind spot in the mansion's security grid and hid there to quickly transform. Mind still dwelling on Marinette's creamy skin tinted pink with blush, he vaulted over the security wall, checked his baton for the location of the akuma-at-large, took a couple of steps to get a running start—and barreled headlong into Ladybug.
"Ladybug!"
"Chat Noir!" they exclaimed simultaneously. Chat scrambled to his feet and held out a paw for her. Her cheeks rivaled the red of her mask as she took his outstretched hand. "What are you doing here?" he asked somewhat stupidly.
"Um, heading toward the akuma?"
"Right." He huffed a little laugh and couldn't prevent the brilliant smile that rent his face.
She didn't move. She dug her toe into the pavement and crunched her nose. He was starting to worry that the collision had hurt her, so he glanced down. Her tiny hand was still wrapped in his. "Oh, sorry," he apologized, releasing her hand and nodding toward the direction of the akuma, "Shall we, then?"
"Yeah," she responded, still somewhat dazed. "Race ya!" and then she was off and Chat cackled with delight as he leapt after her.
The last few weeks had been… complicated. But then again, not. Adrien had found himself over the summer—that much was certain. Marinette had been a big part of that discovery. When she'd divulged to him (as Chat) that she was in love with him (as Adrien), and as he'd thought through his own feelings and discovered a very real love for her in return, it had been a natural and easy conclusion to develop their relationship. But then Ladybug had changed. The image of her in his arms—cataclysmed by Lila's last sentimonster, barely breathing, him desperate to save her—haunted his dreams these days. But her whispered "miraculous ladybug" had brought her back to him and she had kissed him so deeply and thoroughly that, for the first time ever, he was certain that she felt about him the same that he had always felt for her.
Then school resumed and Marinette was back in his daily life without having to come up with some reason for Chat to visit the bakery. He thought their friendship was strong and that some time together could be fun… He grossly underestimated Marinette. Within less than thirty minutes of their first date, he found himself falling for her hard. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it in their first year of school together. Marinette was spunky, sweet, thoughtful, strong, and hilarious. When he was with her, he felt like home.
But Ladybug had changed! The akumas were far less frequent these last few weeks than they had been all summer, so maybe it was because he wasn't spending as much time with Ladybug as he had before… but every time they were together, she blushed. She stammered. And, boy-hardy, did she flirt. Chat loved the attention, but he inwardly grumbled at her timing. Just when he felt like he'd found someone else that he could have a fantastic, deep, genuine relationship with, Ladybug decided to return Chat's affections.
And yet, once again, he found himself flirting back, racing after her, watching her lithe red body doing impressive acrobatics and feeling his heart follow suit. He smiled every time she glanced his way. She was still every bit as irresistible as she'd always been. Snap out of it, Chat. There's an akuma to bring down!
It was a good thing the akuma ended up being quite ridiculous and hilariously easy, because Chat Noir's brain wouldn't shut up. He couldn't stop thinking about Marinette's adorable mispronunciations of pàocài or the way Ladybug's musical laugh rippled across the crowd of people bumping into each other and apologizing. As the two encouraged the stone-faced American tourist who had just been akumatized, Chat Noir caught Ladybug staring at him. He raised his eyebrows wickedly and flexed, only to be pegged in the head by Ladybug's yo-yo.
"Silly Kitty."
The knock on her skylight window startled Marinette so bad that her pencil slipped and left a long streak of graphite from the top of her design to the edge of the paper. "Just come in already, you mangy cat!" she growled.
Chat Noir tumbled into her room, holding his ribs in laughter. "I didn't even enter the room and you're already growling at me? My Purrincess, you've got to find a better outlet for your anger!"
"I had one until you scared me so bad that I did this," she huffed, showing him the soiled design.
"Oh, shoes? Hang on, let me look at those," he grinned, poring over her sketch. "This is a nice touch, the arch support and wider toes, very nice. Oh, I love the tread, fantastic! Marinette, these are great!"
She smiled shyly, and admitted, "They're the Ladybug counterpart to go with the ones I designed for you. Like I told you in my text, I'd like to submit them to the Gabriel design competition this year." He set the sketches back on Marinette's desk and took off the backpack he was wearing and extracted a box. He opened the lid dramatically and revealed the freshly cleaned bright green shoes.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, here is the finest pair of shoes in the world, which grants the power of Chat-Noir-awesomeness. You will use these to win the contest, achieve fame and glory, and to prove once and for all that Chat Noir is the greatest ever. When your task is accomplished and the villain has been defeated, you will return these shoes to me. Can I trust you?"
Marinette crumpled into a ball of giggles on her floor. Chat didn't twitch a muscle; he just stood there expectantly, awaiting her answer. Finally, she managed to stand upright and tried to take the box from him, but he held it firm.
"Can I trust you?"
She poked his ribs hard, and he gasped and dropped the box. She caught it and put it on her desk. "I'll take good care of your precious kicks."
"No fair, you're not supposed to use that spot against me."
"What spot?" she batted her eyelashes innocently.
"You know. The… the… the spot."
"Oh, that spot, huh?" she crooned. He glared. "I forget, this one?" she tickled his ribs again and he stepped back with a look of horror on his face. "Or was it here?" her eyes glinted maliciously as she attacked the soft spot on the side of his neck with her fingertips.
Chat Noir hissed and batted her hands away playfully. She chased him around her room until he tripped on her chaise and splatted across the floor. She pounced and tickled his ribs until he begged for mercy. Marinette released his ribcage and ran her fingers up the back of neck and into the hair at the base of his skull. He melted into the chaise. The purring started almost instantaneously.
"Hey Chat?" she started more seriously after a few quiet moments.
"Hmm?" he purred in response, now a blissfully content ball on Marinette's chaise.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your shoes. And thanks for what you told Adrien about them. It… really means a lot."
He grinned lazily at her, "It was the truth. Every word."
She blushed. "I don't need to win a contest to prove that you're the greatest ever."