So the deal is on, but it won't go without a hitch. There is fluff and tension to be found in this chapter.=^-^=

Ch. 15 - A Chat By Any Other Name


It wasn't that she didn't trust Aaron, no. It had nothing to do with that what's so ever. Marinette was only following him because she was worried. Yes, maybe she was a little more worried that she'd spotted him with Chloe of all people, but it wasn't like she thought he was cheating on her. Not even a little bit! She just knew Chloe, and apparently so did Aaron. "What are they doing?" She peeked around a mail box to see them going into a bank. Why would they be going into a bank together? "This is suspicious."

"So is a girl spying on a nice young couple going to the bank."

She bolted up and turned to her new guest. "A-adrien…?"

He was dressed in warm layers and wore a toboggan. "Hey, Marinette." He smiled at her though she still felt it was kind of off.

"W-what are you… doing here?"

Felix found her stutter amusing. "Oh, well I was going to see Chloe, but then I spotted you and figured I'd come say hi."

"Oh…" Marinette blushed at being caught spying. "Um… Hi?"

"So why are you spying on them?" He asked with an innocent tone. Acting the part of naïve Adrien was easy.

"Oh… Um…" She turned back to them. "I just saw Aaron on my way back and saw him go into the Grand Paris Hotel." It was weird considering he'd only gone there with her to meet Jagged before.

"So you're spying on that guy, huh? He your boyfriend? He's not cheating on you is he?" Felix looked over the mailbox himself.

"No! Of course not. Aaron would never cheat on me…" She then blushed. "I was just wondering what he was doing with Chloe."

Felix chuckled. This girl was so innocent and a total ditz. "So he is your boyfriend. Too bad."

"Hmm? Why is that?" She asked back without even noticing his tone.

"Because, Marinette," Felix placed a hand beside her head to block her from stepping away. "I've always had a crush on you."

"W-w-what!?" She squeaked at the sudden admission. She was pinned back against the large bin with Felix leaning closer. "But… b-but you were with Lila…. And on your birthday you didn't even remember my name!" She quickly defended thinking this whole thing was absolutely crazy.

"I'm so touched you remember that terrible meeting." He took her hand. "I'm sorry about the way I acted. I had to pretend or Lila would have told my father. You know how he is don't you? He never approved of any of my friends."

That was true. She knew how Gabriel was. "But… I…" She desperately looked for something else as she saw him coming closer.

"I hope you'll forgive me?" He asked and she felt his hand release her hand and take her chin.

At this point all her brain was really registering was that Adrien was inches from her face! Adrien Agreste admitted to liking her and was going to kiss her!

He was going…

He was…

No…

"Who are you?" She asked when he was an inch from her lips. She could see it in his eyes. This wasn't… Couldn't be Adrien.

"What?" The boy paused and looked at her curiously. "What do you mean? I'm Adrien, remember?" He moved to kiss her again but this time she pushed him away.

"No… No you're not." She knew she'd seen him before, but he definitely wasn't Adrien. "And even if you were… I have a boyfriend."

Felix narrowed his eyes. "Your boyfriend is out with another girl, isn't he?"

"My boyfriend is out doing his own business. I may have been curious about what he's doing, but I know he would never cheat on me, and the Adrien I knew wouldn't assume that either. I… I don't know who you are, but… you're not Adrien." She side stepped out of his reach and dashed off towards her house. She knew Aaron would never cheat on her, but she wasn't so sure of herself. She'd nearly let some stranger kiss her because she thought he was Adrien. How could she?


"So, this mean I can have all you can eat camembert again?" Plagg asked as the two of them made their ways home. "Not all you can eat, but I'll see what I can do." It had taken a few hours to get the whole bank situation straightened out. Felix looked surprised he'd invited Chloe along for the ride, and was in a foul mood for most of the whole meeting. The first thing they did was verify the funds in Adrien's account. Then Felix, Adrien's stand in, used the provided pin number to transfer half the money into an account owned by Chloe. Chloe then transferred the money digitally a few more times before wiring it directly into Aaron's established bank account. It was the same one he got paid into and that Marinette's parents had helped him make which is why he didn't have any issues with the paperwork then.

Once that was done, Felix wanted the money placed into a new account Gabriel couldn't monitor. Because Felix was still 17, he couldn't open it in his name, so Aaron convinced Chloe to help him out as well. She agreed to hold the other half of the money for the next month, and promised to transfer it as soon as Felix opened his own. Until then, he could use a card Chloe gave him to spend the money. He wasn't big on relying on Chloe, but his mood wasn't as playful and mischievous as it normally was. Adrien found it a little odd, but then again, Felix could have just seen it as a serious situation for once. He checked his phone once he saw the bakery coming up and realized he'd missed a call. He had it on do not disturb while in the bank. "Huh? Mr. Tom?" The bakery was about to close for the day so did he miss some kind of rush? Were they trying to call him in? He was sure to let Sabine know he'd be busy for those hours. He jogged down the street and entered through the front. There were no customers and as soon as Collett saw him she looked nervous. "How was the afternoon rush?" He probed hoping they hadn't tried calling him in and he let them down.

"It was… not bad."

"Okay…" He looked around. The shelves didn't look like a rush had come through recently. "Is something wrong?"

She looked nervous. "Well… Maybe you should talk to Tom about it." All she knew was that Marinette was upset and Tom wasn't happy about it.

"Is he in the back?"

"No… Richard is doing clean up."

"Thanks." Aaron quickly made his way through the back and into the apartment. "I'm back. Is everything okay? Collett mentioned I should talk to you about…" He froze when he saw Mr. Dupain sitting on the couch with a frown and his arms crossed.

"Welcome back, Aaron." Sabine greeted with a more friendly air, but he could tell something was up.

Tom stood silently and looked at the younger man. Immediately Adrien recalled what Nino had said about Marinette's father being huge and it made perfect sense. At this exact moment he could safely say Tom Dupain looked scarier than any akuma he'd ever fought. "Aaron." He called with a calm tone but a stern expression.

"Yes sir?"

"I know you're a good kid, and I know you love my daughter. I want to believe you would never do anything to hurt her."

"Of course not! I would never." Adrien quickly defended. "Did something happen? Is Marinette okay? Is she home?"

Tom nodded. "She is, but I have another question for you. You don't seem to know Marinette came home crying and upset earlier today." Adrien's eyes widened and he moved to go towards her trap door. "Stop." Tom ordered. "I'm sorry son, but I'm not letting you up there to talk to her."

"But if she's upset-"

"Aaron." This time Sabine was the one to interrupt. "While you don't seem to know about any of this, you should know that when she did come home, she told me she didn't want to talk about why she was upset, and she specifically mentioned not wanting to see you."

"She…. She doesn't want to see me? Why!?" He couldn't fathom why at all. She'd seemed fine that morning when they had breakfast. He even got a kiss goodbye since he wasn't in the kitchen today. He hadn't seen her since. "I don't… Understand what I could have done?"

Sabine nodded. "I had a feeling." Her mother's intuition told her it wasn't what it seemed from first glance.

"Is anyone… Is she up there alone?" He wondered next. He certainly didn't want her being alone if she was upset.

"Alya came by a little after she came home and is still up there. Let's leave it to her for now." It didn't make him feel better exactly, but at least she wasn't alone. "Now, Tom, stop that. Sit down and I'll finish dinner prep. Aaron, you just sit this one out." She then crossed her arms. "We're going to act like everything is normal until we hear from Marinette what happened that got her so upset, right boys?"

"Yes, ma'am." Aaron answered as he sat down on the other couch.

"Tom?"

"Yes, honey." He relented and sat down with a huff. He glanced at Aaron who looked genuinely upset. He'd allowed his feathers to be ruffled when Marinette came home so distraught, but he was now feeling like he jumped the gun. Maybe Aaron really didn't have anything to do with it? But then why didn't she want to see him?


"Mari, you've been attached to your pillows for two hours. Are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to get desperate." Alya decreed having been waiting for the full two hours to get more than "I'm a terrible girlfriend" or "I don't deserve him" out of her.

"I … can't…" The designer mumbled into her pillow.

"Huh? Can't? Well, maybe I can do a little persuading." Alya grabbed her foot and peeled the sock right off. "Tickle torture it is."

"Alya!" Marinette kicked her leg to get it free but Alya knew her moves very well and dodged like a pro.

"Nope, it's on!"

The ravenette crumbled instantly as her tears of distress fused with her laughs. "D-damn it, Alya!"

"Talk or the other sock comes off too." She threatened. It went on for nearly half a minute before Marinette relented. She knew Marinette well enough to tell when tickle torture was needed, and the very fact she had to wait two hours meant it was something serious. "So talk. I'm here for you, girl. You know that."

"I know." Marinette started with a rub of her eyes. She turned around with a pillow in hand so Alya couldn't get to her feet easily again. "It's…"

"About Aaron, I got that. Why do you think you're a terrible girlfriend? Did you forget his birthday?"

"No…" She admitted hugging the pillow tight. "It's… I… I almost let another guy kiss me." She admitted with a whimper that threatened to bring back more tears.

"You what? Who? They didn't force themselves on you did they?"

She shook her head. "No… Not really… I don't know who they were, but they were pretending to be Adrien."

"Hold up… What? Some Adrien Agreste look alike tried to kiss you?"

"Yes and I…. I nearly let him do it!" She buried her face back in the pillow.

"Come on, Mari, calm down." The journalist pat her back soothingly. "The thing you should be looking at is 'almost' since you didn't actually let him."

"But A-alya…" She mumbled into her pillow. "I would have! I let my old crush on Adrien make me forget about Aaron!"

"For like two seconds, right? Aaron knows you had a crazy crush on Adrien. I think he'd totally understand and be really happy you turned him down."

"But I didn't stop him until I realized he wasn't Adrien. It was only then I remembered Aaron. I'm… Terrible! I can't even let this one sided crush go!"

"I think you just had a little hiccup."

"It wasn't a hiccup! He said he had always liked me and I was happy about it! That was all it took for me to forget my boyfriend! I can't be with Aaron if I can't get over Adrien! I just… I can't! He deserves better."

"He deserves a girlfriend who's going to explain she's not perfect, Marinette. Just talk to him." Alya could honestly see where Aaron would be mad. Honestly, if Nino had done this to her she would be mad too, but with all the years she dealt with Marinette's crush? Let's just say there were extenuating circumstances. She also would like to knock out the guy who dared try and trick Marinette like that. She was already pissed at the real Adrien, and now a look alike has been added to her list.


It was another half an hour before Alya finally left Marinette's room. All eyes were on the girl before she even got to the last step. "Alya, how's Marinette?" Sabine asked calmly.

"She's upset still, but I'm hoping she'll calm down with a good night's sleep." She then turned to Aaron. "Can I talk to you for a sec." Tom eyed the young man as he stood. "And before any misunderstandings come up, Aaron isn't at fault for anything." She declared to both parents seeing how talking to him could be seen without context. Sabine looked relieved though Tom looked more so. "Let's use your room." She directed the ravenette before closing the door behind.

"So… She's really okay?"

"She's… She will be, but I want to explain things to you first. When Marinette gets emotional she will sometimes mess up her words and I don't want a misunderstanding." She explained as Aaron sat down on his bed. "It took awhile, but Marinette told me the whole story starting with spotting you with Chloe Bourgeois at a bank today."

Aaron raised his brows. "She saw me?"

"Yes, she did. What were you doing, if you don't mind my asking?"

He could feel the sharpness in her tone. "Oh, I met Chloe a long time ago. She knows my dad and… She was helping me out with something. It's kind of complicated to be honest, but I wasn't cheating on, Marinette!"

"Well… You're in luck cause I believe you. Marinette said the same thing when she told me." Alya grinned. "She said you would never do anything like that no matter how it looked."

"Oh… I uh… Then what happened?"

Alya let out a sigh. "Well, right after she saw you two go in, she had a run in with a guy she thought was Adrien Agreste. She's told you about her crush, right?"

"Yeah." The insane crush she had since college. Did she run into Felix?

"Good, so maybe you'll understand what was going through her mind when he admitted to liking her."

Aaron froze. "Adrien did what?"

Alya nodded. "Yeah, he said he always liked her and then tried to kiss her."

Adrien could feel his fists balling at his sides. "He tried to kiss Marinette?"

"Yeah, only here's the interesting part, it wasn't Adrien Agreste. Marinette just thought it was him at first. She's not actually sure who he was."

"She… Wait, she's sure it wasn't Adrien Agreste?"

"Yup, swore up and down too. The thing is, Aaron, she's upset about how she still feels for him." Alya transitioned before Aaron went out on a murder vendetta for a clone of Adrien Agreste. "I want you to understand this, Aaron. Marinette is angry and upset because she allowed her crush on Adrien to make her forget about you for even the smallest time. While I know you might be mad at her for that, I want to you to understand that Marinette's feelings for Adrien were really intense. I'm not saying she didn't do anything wrong, but please don't hate her for them."

Adrien looked at her curiously. She was asking him to not hate Marinette for liking him. It actually took him a moment to remember that Alya still thought they were two separate people. "Alya… I know Marinette used to love Adrien, and I could never hate her for that."

"But it was feelings she had today, Aaron. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I am. If anything, I'm still pissed at F- this jerk who tried to kiss Mari."

The journalist looked at him curiously. What boyfriend was okay with their girlfriend having feelings for another guy? "Aaron… Are you really okay with this?"

The ravenette sighed. "Well, I don't want her dating Adrien, but what can I do?"

"You… Let me tell you a funny story about Marinette. I want you to understand how deep her crush was, and just how bad she feels this incident will hurt you, okay?" Alya leaned on the door of the room and started on. "It was back in college. It was Adrien's birthday and Marinette knitted him this really nice blue scarf. She'd wrapped it up and was determined to give it to him first thing." She then sighed. "But our little Mari got cold feet and just couldn't bring herself to give it to him in person. Later she decided to drop it by his house instead, only she made another mistake. She forgot to sign her name so now he wouldn't know who gave it to him." Aaron was already finding this story slightly familiar. A blue scarf? Didn't his dad make him one years ago? "Once she realized her mistake I was able to get her a moment to sneak into his house and write her name properly, but this whole thing with an akuma came up and something must have gone wrong at some point. Anyway, he comes to school the next day wearing it and under the impression it was a gift from his dad."

"Did she ever tell him?" Aaron asked more pleading than Alya would have thought. Why would he be so desperate to know that?

"About the scarf? No. You see, she saw just how happy he was thinking it was gift from his dad, and so she just couldn't bear to correct him." Aaron was now speechless. Alya wasn't sure it was a good thing, but it was curious. Was he… going to cry? Was he upset that her crush was that strong.

"Alya…"

"Yeah?"

He sounded upset. "Marinette… She's still crying upstairs isn't she?"

"Yeah, or at least she's still upset."

Aaron stood up. "I want to go talk to her now." He informed with an emotional tone.

"No, I think maybe you should let it-"

"Alya, she's upset because of me! I'm not going to let her spend another minute like that if she doesn't have too." After all, she felt bad about loving him because of him. She must've run into Felix who decided to pull a prank on her. She saw right through him and now felt bad she'd been fooled for even a moment. That ass! He did this to her! The next time he saw Felix he was for sure going to slug him!

"Aaron… Are you sure you're not upset?" Alya asked as he pulled open the door despite her leaning on it.

"With Mari? Not a chance. I know who I'm upset with."

"Wait… You know who Marinette ran into?"

"Yeah, I do, but that's not important right now." He forced his way out. "What's important right now is that I talk to Mari before she spends all night worrying over nothing."


Marinette was curled up on her bed when she heard her door suddenly swing open. She jumped and peeked out from her pillow enough to see it was Aaron. "Hold on, son-"

"Pleas, Tom, I need to do this." Aaron insisted before she heard the door close again. It was suddenly quiet now, and Marinette knew Aaron was still in the room with her. She thought about saying something to break the silence for what felt like hours, but he broke it first. "Marinette." She flinched from her spot on the bed. "Please look at me."

She couldn't though… She was too ashamed. "I-I… I'm t-terrible…" She finally said instead. "You don't w-want a girl like m-me..."

He could tell she was sobbing into the pillow at this point. "Oh, Mari…" He breathed out and reached up to stroke her hair. "There is no one in the whole universe I could ever want more." She flinched at his touch but he continued to thread his fingers through her long dark locks.

"B-but I-"

"Shhh." He cooed and leaned down to get close to her covered face. "Alya told me everything." She shook at that and he knew she would start crying harder. "Calm down, Marinette, please." He gently pulled the pillow from her weakening death grip. "Please?" He asked again at getting only a glance of her face.

"D-don't...I… But…" She started between her sobs and Aaron reached to her back to try and console her further.

"Just listen, okay? I want you to listen and calm down. You'll make yourself sick if you keep this up." He tried to tease but it wasn't very effective. "Even before we started dating I knew you had a crush on Adrien Agreste. You yourself told me. You admitted to doing crazy things because of how much you liked him, remember?" She remained quiet but her sobs were calmer which showed she was listening. "And then I admitted to you my crazy Ladybug fantasy to be even. After that we agreed we liked each other and we should get to know each other better." It felt like forever, but looking back on it now he realized it was only two weeks. Two weeks they spent living together, interacting with each other, and learning about each other. "By now I think I know you enough to see your feelings for me, Marinette. Just like you should know mine. I love you, and nothing you can do or say will ever change that." He then chuckled. "And you know… I still think about Ladybug sometimes." He admitted with a warm expression. "And I think I know why I fell in love with her now. Maybe it was so I could eventually fall in love with you, the only one I've ever loved more." He smiled as she finally started to lift her head.

Her hair was matted by her eyes from tears which were still falling from her reddened eyes. "But… You…" She took a breath. "I basically forgot you… existed…" She muttered near the end with more shame and tears flooding down harder.

Aaron smirked. "For what? Two seconds?" He chuckled. "Anyone can get caught up in the moment, Mari." He brushed her matted hair away. "Besides, you've been crying and agonizing over me for over 2 hours. If that's anything to go by, Adrien Agreste doesn't stand a chance." Marinette nearly choked on her sudden laugh. That's how he looks at it? Seriously? "Ah, there we go. As much as I love you caring about me so much, I'd really prefer you smile when you do it. I never want you to cry over me, Mari." He lifted her chin and she pushed herself up on her elbows. "Okay?"

She nodded. "I… I'm sorry, Aaron…"

"I think I got that already." He teased and kissed her on the cheek before looking up with thoughts of Felix's near demise. "But honestly, if anyone's going to be sorry it should be the jerk who tried to trick you-"

"Aaron?"

He paused at her voice and looked back at her. "Hmm?"

She was looking at him closely. Something had just occurred to her and she wondered… "You… Are you Adrien?" She knew Chat Noir used to be blonde, and Aaron really did look an awful lot like Adrien if she pictured him that way. It might also explain why he was so new to normal things and maybe even why he wasn't mad.

Aaron's eyes went wide at the question. Should he admit to it? He'd already decided that he wouldn't go back to being Adrien anymore, so… "If I told you I was, would that change anything?" He quickly asked as a cover.

She looked at him a moment. His expression was serious but soft and she could tell he was trying to hide something. Her eyes widened when she realized what she just asked may have hurt him even more than cheating. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" She sat up too fast and hit her head on the ceiling of her loft bed.

"Marinette!" Aaron reached up to wrap and arm around her shoulders. It was a struggle since she was now barely within reach.

"Ouch…" She hissed with both hands on her head from the impact.

"Come here, Marinette." The ravenette insisted as he pulled her closer with an arm around her waist.

If she wasn't caught up on her head she would have realized what he was doing before he took her up bridal style and down from her bed. "A-Aaron!?" She wrapped one arm around his neck to keep herself up while the other still nursed her head.

"It's okay, I've got you." He then backed up until he sat down on her chaise. "Now, let me see." He pushed her hand away once he had her settled.

"I-it's not bad… It just hurt at first."

"Head injuries are serious, Marinette." He warned and tapped the scar above his own eyebrow.

"I'm fine, Aaron." She reiterated and pushed his hand away. "It's not the first time I've bumped my head, and it won't be the last."

He chuckled at her tone. She was starting to sound like her usual self. "So you're saying I should be grateful you're used to hitting your head? Perish the thought." He kissed the spot on the back of her crown.

"S-stop it…"

"Stop what?" He asked innocently while placing a few other kisses on her head.

"Stop…." She paused and he felt her reposition herself. "You're really not mad?"

"About what?" He asked knowing full well what she meant. "Head bumps can make people very forgetful you know?"

She couldn't resist laughing at his musing tone. "When did you hit your head?" She was now turned around in his lap while not quite straddling him.

"Ah, but Mari, every time I kiss you I fall harder and harder. I'm covered in bumps already." That sense of humor, while terrible, was just too hard to resist at the same time. He probably thought he was being clever.

"Then…" She started and pushed a lock of hair behind her own ear. "I guess you won't mind one more?"

Aaron wasn't quite sure what she meant until she leaned up to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her head gently as he took over. "I'd take a thousand without a second thought." He answered quickly before kissing her again, and again.

"I just want to check on them." Tom argued as he lifted the trap door to his daughter's room. Alya was pulling at his arm from one side while Sabine was trying to get in front of him on the steps. All eyes froze on the couple in the dimly lit room sitting together on the chaise and obviously busy. Adrien held fast to Marinette and continued to kiss her despite knowing she'd stopped the moment she heard the others.

"See? What did I tell you?" Alya whisper scolded as Tom slowly lowered the door looking sheepish.

"Sorry…" Sabine apologized right before the door closed again.

He stopped kissing her and sighed when he felt her continue to pull away even though they'd been left alone. "I don't suppose we could pretend that never happened?"

"Aaron… How far did you want to go with all three of them waiting just on the other side of the door?"

He blushed at the idea and grumbled under his breath. "Well… I was…"

She giggled at him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "It's okay, Aaron, but let's wait until we can have a bit more privacy for more."

That had his attention as he looked at her. "Mari… Are you saying you'd want to-"

She placed a finger over his lips. "I'm saying, Aaron, that I love you." She then leaned close to his ear. "And they're probably listening through the door right now so we should wait until we have guaranteed privacy for more."

"As you wish, princess." He whispered back and finally allowed her to get up from his lap. "Your mom probably has dinner ready by now anyway."

"Probably… Let me just wipe my face and I'll come down." She motioned him to go ahead.

"Okay, might as well clear the eavesdroppers away while I'm at it." She watched him go down through the trap door quickly and saw the rest of her family clear the way. He was definitely more than she deserved.

She moved over to her desk and grabbed a handkerchief to wipe her face. While checking the mirror she spotted one of the class photos she got from college. Adrien was rarely allowed out back then so it was one of the few where he was in it. She stopped to look at it closely and then down to the Vouge Magazine she had laying over her laptop. "He really does look like Adrien in a lot of ways…" She then shook the thought from her head. Aaron worked at the bakery five days a week so there was no way he could be Adrien with how busy both of their schedules are, and even if he actually was, that didn't matter. She loved the boy who called himself Aaron, made bad puns, and loved her despite her flaws. "Yup, that's that." She dismissed the whole thing while making a mental note to clear out more of the Adrien photos she still had around her room.


What? I didn't make him reveal himself as Adrien? I'm an evil tease? Yes, but you want more anyway, am I right? Anyway, Felix is in for some pain if the real Adrien has anything to say about it. Now I want to get this out of the way, while Felix isn't really a villain, he does have a twisted personality. He likes tricking people, and hates it when others figure him out before he has his fun. The thing with Marinette, was more than just a failed trick, however, though what I'll never say! You'll have to wait for that!=^-^=

Thank you for reading and comments are greatly appreciated! (Or ideas for our couple. I'll take those too)=^-^=