this is un-betaed so i apologize for any mistakes or weirdly worded passages. i tried.
Chapter One: Two Heroes, One Closet
When she threw open the door, she wished for the thousandth time that the responsibility of protecting the citizens of Paris had fallen onto the shoulders of someone else. Someone better, stronger, braver; someone more equipped and capable of dealing with the reality of being Ladybug. Marinette couldn't even deal with the reality of being a functional teenager, let alone moonlighting as a spandex-clad superheroine responsible for the lives of approximately two million people.
Better yet, she wished that Hawkmoth had never reared his stupid, ugly head and threatened all of Paris and sent her life careering into chaos. Then she wouldn't have to live in constant fear for herself, her friends, and her family. Then she would be able to live the life of a normal 15-year-old girl with a host of normal 15-year-old problems, like having too much homework, and doing chores, and one-sided crushes, and staying up too late playing video games. A list which did not include worrying about things like her gym teacher being turned into a giant, raging monster by evil purple butterflies.
And most importantly of all, she wouldn't be hiding in a storage closet with her classmate who also happened to be an extremely attractive model (and the secret love of her life) by the name of—
"ADRIEN AGRESTE," the akuma screeched, voice reverberating off the gymnasium walls. "COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE. LET'S SEE IF YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT ME FAIR AND SQUARE!"
Marinette sighed.
As if gym class wasn't already bad enough.
"Well I hardly think a one-on-one with a deranged supervillain is fair, but hey. What do I know?"
Marinette barely managed to resist the urge to jump when she heard Adrien's whispered retort in her ear. He was so close she could see the hair at her temple moving as his breath puffed in and out, his body heat seeping into her back. She shivered, the tiny hairs on her arms and the back of her neck standing on end as adrenaline began to course through her veins for a reason entirely unrelated to the akuma lurking nearby.
She snuck a glance at him over her shoulder, watching the way his green eyes sparkled in the darkness. She would almost go as far as to say he was amused by the entire situation, were it not for his slightly pinched mouth and the worried furrow developing between his brows.
A shadow passing in front of the closed door caused Marinette to rear back instinctively, her body going on auto-pilot.
Akuma.
She spun, slamming her hand over Adrien's mouth and pressing him bodily up against the wall, futilely trying to shield him from the threat with her body.
The shadow paused.
Marinette held her breath.
A trickle of cold sweat began to work its way down the back of her neck, disappearing between her shoulder blades. She could feel her eyes burning as she stared intently at the crack at the bottom of the door, unwilling to so much as blink for fear of being discovered.
After what felt like an eternity, the shadow continued onward, the akuma's booming voice slowly fading into the distance.
Letting out a shaky breath, Marinette felt herself slump with relief as silence enveloped the room. The immediate threat was gone. Now she just had to figure out a way to get out of this musty old closet and transform so that she could deal with one very pissed off gym teacher. Piece of cake. Although she couldn't shake the feeling that there was a rather important detail she was forgetting…
"Mmhmp?"
"OHMYGOD." Ripping her hand from Adrien's mouth as though scalded, Marinette flailed backwards, just about throwing herself across the room in her haste to get distance from the blonde boy (who was currently gazing at her as though he'd never seen her before). She could still feel the warm press of his lips against her palm and the thought caused heat to explode in her face.
"Sorry! I am so sorry about that, I don't know what came over me. It felt like my body just moved on it's own and – agh – that was probably so uncomfortable for you, I—!"
To her surprise, instead of reacting with disgust or disapproval (as she fully expected he would), Adrien burst out laughing. Marinette gazed with wide-eyed wonder, taken aback by the outburst from her normally reserved classmate. She strained her eyes against the dimness, greedily cataloguing the way laughter changed his face. How his eyes crinkled with mirth at the corners, and how his teeth flashed brightly in his grinning face. Adrien Agreste might have been good-looking under regular circumstances – carefully coiffed and effortlessly attractive in his expensive designer clothes – but it was inarguably laughter that looked best on him.
How was it possible for anyone to be this beautiful?
Finally registering her gawping, Adrien fought to compose himself, raising a hand to cover his mouth self-consciously.
"Ah," he cleared his throat. "Sorry. I'm not laughing at you, I swear. Just, um, relieving stress…?" His sentence trailed off, hanging in the air between them uncertainly. Marinette forced herself to relax, internally lamenting having ruined the moment by making him uncomfortable.
Now look what you've done – you've scared the poor thing!
"No, it's totally okay!" She rushed to assure him, reaching out somewhat desperately as though she could prevent him from retreating back into his shell. His joy was like a drug, and now that she'd had a taste of it she couldn't help but crave more. She wanted to be the one to put that grin on his face, wanted to hear him laugh like that again and again and again.
Her hand found purchase on his arm and Marinette was grateful for the cover provided by the dark room, if only for the fact that it prevented Adrien from seeing the force of the blush lighting up her face. "I understand. This whole situation is... kind of bizarre."
She felt him shift, whether it was away from or closer to her she was too afraid to find out, and lowered her hand.
"Yeah, it kind of is."
Reluctantly moving away from where he was standing, she began trying to gather her bearings. Now that her eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness, she could see that the room they were in was absolutely packed with old sporting equipment – carts and shelves full of flat footballs and basketballs, broken rackets, and dusty mats were crammed in almost from floor to ceiling. Marinette was glad that she'd never struggled with claustrophobia because between her, the equipment and Adrien, there was barely three feet of manoeuvrable space.
She bumped into a precarious pile of mats, disturbing a cloud of dust and unleashing a ferocious and unforgiving sneezing fit upon herself.
Discreetly wiping away any snot, she prayed that Adrien had missed her stunning display of attractiveness. Yet from the way his shoulders were shaking with (what she assumed to be) barely suppressed laughter, she divined that her prayers had been in vain.
If I have any feminine wiles at all, now would be a really good time for them to kick in.
"You okay?" He called, his voice thick with amusement.
"Fine, fine! Just allergies." She began moving with more caution this time, unwilling to upset the carefully balanced mounds of trash and call down more of that infernal dust. Or worse, spiders. "How are you doing?"
"I'm managing. Luckily, dust doesn't fall on my strange and unfortunately long list of allergies."
"Oh? I thought you were only allergic to feathers."
"If only that were the case." He sighed wistfully. She turned to see him perched with cat-like grace on top of an old gymnastics vault, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Do you want the long or the shortlist?"
"Well, I don't know," she deadpanned. "Seeing as how we're stuck in this closet for the foreseeable future, let's go with long."
"Hmm let's see," he began, ticking them off on his fingers. "Well there's feathers, as you know, avocados, beestings - I have to carry an EpiPen for that one actually - and kiwi. Plus several different kinds of medication – half of which I can't pronounce – horses, natural rubber latex, black grapes—"
"Specifically black grapes?"
"—I told you it was weird. Now where was I…Oh! There's also chestnuts, cheap metals like nickel, sulfites, and green peppers!" He concluded with a flourish, gazing at her expectantly as if waiting for applause.
"...How did you even live past infancy?"
"Tsk, tsk! So quick to judge, Pri—" Marinette raised an eyebrow, slightly bewildered as he stumbled over his words. He recovered quickly, not giving her the chance to interject."—Precisely the problem with the youth of today, if you ask me! You know, books, judgement, covers, etcetera."
"I may seem like a delicate flower, but I'm made of stronger stuff than I appear." He winked, jumping off the vault and bowing theatrically. Seeing her unimpressed look, he grinned sheepishly. "I may have also had the help of an entire professional kitchen staff. And my allergist on speed dial."
Pressing a hand to her face to hide the stupid grin she could feel building there, Marinette giggled. Even if he was a delicate flower, he was so darn cute that she couldn't help but want to gather his face between her hands and pepper it with kisses. Then she would slip a hand into the impossibly silky hair at the nape of his neck as he laughed softly, drawing her closer before dragging her lips down to m—
Down, girl.
Marinette spun away, slapping her cheeks a couple times in an attempt to gather her focus, and prevent her mind from wandering any further down such dangerous (and tantalizing and slightly lewd and totally off-limits) paths. She needed to be concentrating on the important things, like evaluating the security of their current location, and deciding whether it would be better to stay there or risk moving Adrien to a safer, more defensible location.
Not what it would feel like to have her hands fisted in his hair while she shoved her tongue in his mouth.
"JESUS CHRIST!"
"Marinette?! What happened, are you alright?"
"AH, yeah! Totally fine. Just – uh – thought I saw a spider. Carry on!"
"Okay, if you're sure…"
DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN FOR THE SAKE OF THIS BOY'S VIRTUE RELEASE ME FROM THIS DEN OF TEMPTATION.
-x-
Although the situation was certainly less than ideal – with her and Adrien's continuing banter falling somewhere between 'endearingly awkward' and 'utterly mortifying' – Marinette acknowledged that as far as hiding spots went, the two of them could have done a lot worse. The closet may have been dirty, and dark, and cramped, but at least it was warm, and there were lots of convenient hiding places. If worst came to worst, she knew she could at least stash Adrien away behind some of the junk and go run off to 'find' Ladybug. And Adrien was as good a person as any to be stuck with. He was friendly and conversational, asking her plenty of questions and seeming genuinely interested in her responses. Not to mention the fact that he was hilariously goofy in a way that continually took her by surprise. With Adrien by her side, Marinette might even go as far as to say the whole thing was fun (except for the ever-present threat of creepy crawlies and critters skittering underfoot).
She knew they would inevitably have to leave the shelter of the closet and Marinette couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse at the thought, already mourning the loss of their tiny safe haven. She knew instinctively that as soon as they stepped outside that door, the protective bubble surrounding them would shatter, and reality (and for her at least, responsibility) would set in and things would be different.
But not now. Not yet. Everything outside was still so uncertain that for the time being, Marinette didn't feel guilty making the decision to stay where they were. Safe. Content.
Together.
"It might be best if we stay where we are for now."
Marinette turned, surprised to hear Adrien voicing the very thought that had been on the tip of her tongue.
Mistaking her startled look for confusion, he hastened to elaborate.
"I just think it might be safer if we waited here for a bit longer. We don't know where the akuma went or how far away he is. From the sounds of it, he's moved pretty far – maybe even outside – but there's never any guarantee with these things." Here he paused, lips pursing, eyes narrowed in thought. "We could be walking right into a trap for all we know."
She stared, taking in the look of concentration on his face; the glint in his eyes as he coolly and confidently discussed strategy. It all reminded her so strongly of her partner that she was momentarily struck speechless. Adrien continued to mumble to himself, gingerly picking his way across the room and examining its contents, either unaware of her scrutiny or unbothered by it. In fact, he seemed entirely too calm for someone who was, at this very moment, being pursued by a possessed, basketball-wielding monster.
A niggling suspicion began to form in the back of her mind.
"How are you so calm about all of this?"
Adrien jumped, whirling to face her and almost knocking over a shelf full of baseball equipment in the process. Eyes wide in his suddenly too pale face, he began spluttering, flapping his hands as if to ward off her question (or possibly the cloud of dust that had descended on him).
"Who, me? Nope. No way. I am super not calm. In fact, I am probably the most not-calm person you will ever meet. And I have definitely never been in a situation like this before which would cause me to react calmly. Definitely not!" He squeaked, his voice rising about an octave on the word not.
Nonplussed, Marinette could do nothing except blink owlishly.
He coughed into a fist before speaking again, this time pitching his voice to a more normal register. "I'm really not calm. I guess I just…"
A pause followed, one that had Marinette waiting with bated breath. In a very bizarre way, she was glad to be trapped in a closet with Adrien. Having the chance to actually talk to him – with real words constructed to form real sentences! – gave her the opportunity to learn more about him from his very own lips, instead of online or from interviews in fashion magazines. He seemed to be genuinely opening up to her, which left her feeling giddy and excited. Sure, it was occasionally awkward and stunted, but it was conversation nonetheless and Marinette felt they were making progress.
Until now.
As the silence began to stretch to the point of discomfort, two things became very clear to Marinette: any secret Adrien had been on the verge of sharing would not be forthcoming, and whatever level of comfort or openness she thought they'd established had been swiftly and abruptly ended.
She slumped, feeling unreasonably disappointed. She was so absorbed in her own dejection, in fact, that she almost missed his next words - spoken in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.
"One time my dad was targeted by an akuma… I'm not sure what he did or why it happened. But it was scary. Really scary."
Marinette felt her breath catch. Jackady.
That was a fight that continued to haunt her. Even now she would occasionally find herself waking in the middle of the night, on the edge of a scream, plagued by nightmares filled with playing cards, cruel laughter, and the feeling of desperate hands grabbing at her and pulling until she felt like she would rip apart at the seams.
"I could do nothing but watch as a bunch of mindless zombies came after me and my dad. It was awful." His voice caught, and the sheer agony in it caused her chest to constrict painfully. "He's all I have left."
I know, she wanted to scream. That's why I did it. For you. I protected him to protect you.
Suddenly Adrien's face lit up with a smile full of such adoration and awe that Marinette was left reeling, blinking the stars out of her eyes.
"And then Ladybug came. And she was so amazing and graceful and—and miraculous—that I wasn't afraid anymore. She beat the bad guy and saved the day, just like she always does. So this time I am scared – of course I'm scared. But I trust Ladybug more than my own fear. Because she saved me."
His eyes shined with sincerity and— Wait, were those tears—?
"She saved my dad."
Those words, filled with such tenderness and reverence and vulnerability, were her undoing. Marinette's heart felt like it was simultaneously imploding and exploding, pressing against her rib cage and filling the pit of her stomach and the backs of her eyes with warmth. She felt so full of emotion that she wasn't sure whether to laugh or to weep. Instead she settled for a soft, "Oh, wow."
Wiping the back of his hand across his eyes, Adrien looked chagrined. "Sorry about going off like that. You must be getting tired of hearing me talk about Ladybug. I know Nino does."
"No, not at all!" She winced at the sound of her own voice, too loud and too abrupt in the small room. "It's… nice, actually."
She bit her lip, uncertain whether she wanted to voice the question that was burning at the back of her throat.
"Do you…" Marinette knew it was too late to turn back now. "You like her a lot, don't you?"
She felt her heart flutter, stomach filled with butterflies at the tender look that stole across the blonde's face.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, I do."
Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste are alone in a storage closet. If Adrien Agreste confesses to liking Ladybug and Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug, and Marinette likes Adrien who inadvertently likes Marinette, what are the odds that Marinette's head will explode?
"Marinette?"
This device is set to self-destruct in 5.
"Hello?"
4
"Marinette, can you hear me?"
3
"Are you alright?"
2
"Okay, you're seriously starting to worry me. Your face is turning a really weird colour..."
1
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—"
Marinette clamped her hands over her mouth, almost but not quite succeeding in muffling the high-pitched squeal that burst out of her.
Adrien, who was leaning over her in concern, reared back in fright, letting out a string of expletives colourful enough to make even the likes of Alix Kubdel blush. His legs hit the back of a crate and without warning, he was toppling over it backwards, landing flat on his back with a startled "Oof!", legs sticking straight up in the air.
Several beats of silence passed, both teens too stunned to move.
Neither was really sure who started giggling first, but suddenly the two of them were collapsed on the floor side-by-side, completely overcome with laughter.
Marinette was laughing so hard she swore her sides would split with the force of her mirth. She couldn't even look at him, for fear of rupturing something at the memory of Adrien Agreste, Parisian poster boy and model extraordinaire, tumbling arse over teakettle over a box of shuttlecocks.
She heard Adrien snort and suddenly she was off again, tears streaming down her face as she fought to catch her breath.
"Y-your face," she wheezed. "I – ha – can't – ha ha!"
"Hah, like you're one to talk," the blonde giggled – Adrien Agreste, giggling! – pushing himself into a sitting position before getting to his feet. "What kind of noise was that? It sounded like a cross between a pterodactyl and a boiling kettle."
Marinette ignored his jive, accepting the hand he offered to help her up and firing right back with a taunt of her own. "And those swear words, ooh la la! I never thought I'd see the day that such strong language came out of Adrien Agreste's pretty little mouth. What would the tabloids say?"
He poked her in the side. She swatted his hand away lightly. They grinned at one another, eyes bright, still running high on endorphins from their laughing fit.
Marinette took a step back, gulping as a light that could best be described as devilish suddenly entered his eyes. He leaned in close, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, his face incredibly handsome even when painted in shadows.
"Now what's this about my 'pretty little mouth'?"
A shrill scream pierced the air before she could respond, causing both teens to freeze in place.
Oh no.
Marinette felt like she'd been doused in ice water, all the air driven from her lungs.
I forgot about the akuma.
She had to get out of here. She had to transform. People needed her. Chat needed her.
Oh god, Chat.
How long had she left him alone out there? Was he okay? She prayed to God that he was, because if anything had happened to him while she was in here—while she was flirting with Adrien—she thought she might be physically ill. She felt so stupid; her stomach churning with a mixture of guilt and self-loathing at the thought that citizens were out there possibly suffering at the hands of an akuma while she hid away in a closet, laughing and talking and enjoying the alone time with her crush.
Adrien wouldn't like Ladybug if he knew what she was actually like – what you were actually like.
"Marinette, where are you going? Wait it's not safe out there—!"
Irresponsible. Selfish. Weak.
She lurched forward, grabbing at the handle of the door and yanking.
Coward.
It didn't budge.
Marinette froze, her heart plummeting through her stomach and the floor to somewhere far beneath their feet. This couldn't be happening.
The door was locked.
notes:
this fic was originally published in 2017, but i'm only now getting around to cross-posting it. which means that, although i did a few edits here and there, this fic is five years old so it might be a bit rough in places. don't say i didn't warn you lol
this work has been cross-posted from AO3