Sorry about the delay! I seem to have zero time right now and I'm looking at changing the ending which is why I'm waiting for some time to be able to sit down and focus on this and my other WIPs. Your patience is much apreciated though, so thank you.
The days that followed went by in a blur for Marinette. The text messages she had been receiving from Adrien had the teen in a tizz whenever her phone vibrated with another message from him: everyone noticed.
Alya especially, and that was not the only thing the blogger took note of: the unexpected absence of one blonde only highlighted the disappearance of another. Alya was practically certain Adrien was Chat Noir by this point, and she just needed to clarify who exactly gave her secret away.
Pulling Nino to one side, the budding reporter and secret heroine finally brought up the likelihood of her boyfriend letting her identity slip to someone…
Nino's glasses did nothing to hide how wide his eyes became in response. Stuttering out a fumbled denial only had Alya thinning her lips more. She was right to know that Marinette had not given her identity away to Chat Noir: either in her civilian guise or while wearing her mask, and that only left one other person.
A person who had anxious beads of sweat currently materialising on his brow.
"How could you?!"
She backhanded Nino's shoulder, causing him to wince away and adjust his cap nervously.
"I-it wasn't intentional babe!" He defended weakly, as Alya continued to drag him further into the depths of a deserted corridor, "it was when I thought you had a-a thing for Chat Noir!"
Hazel eyes bulged dangerously as she leaned into his personal space with her finger pointing into his face. "I love you Nino Lahiffe, but I'mma bust your ass if you don't tell me who you told. Right. Now!"
The young man held his hands up defensively and leaned away from his aggressive girlfriend in alarm. "Babe, babe, I swear I only told Adrien. He's my best friend, I can trust him. I told him mine too-"
Alya stopped him abruptly with a finger on his lips while speaking slowly, ensuring to articulate her words clearly. "You told Adrien, about both of us?"
The aspiring DJ nodded wordlessly as her finger remained against his lips.
"Son of a-!" Alya huffed and turned on her heel.
"Babe? Where you goin'?" The DJ shouted after his girlfriend's retreating form, only to be met with silence. "You don't need to…" Nino attempted to call after Alya and then sighed and rubbed at his brow, "worry." The teen took out his phone and pulled up Adrien's contact and briefly debated the best way to phrase the news without it giving too much away if his or Adrien's mobiles ever fell into the wrong hands.
Nino: I don't know why but Alya's just brought up me telling you about our hobby. She's not too happy by the looks of it, and I'm giving you a heads up. Hope your having fun in London, and you *can* text other people apart from Marinette you no! :'D haha
As the DJ pocketed the device, he shook his head fondly at his best friend and the way the situation was developing between him and Marinette. Nino could not be happier for his two friends, and was looking forward to when they would eventually make it official and get to double date. In the meantime however, he had to wonder just how Alya had cottoned on to the fact that someone else may have known her identity.
Adrien: How is your day going so far Princess? Are you counting the hours until I'm back? ;)
Marinette: Days goin good thanks! Didn't even notice you weren't here ;p! How's your day?
Adrien: Meowch! You wound this cat deeply! Can't wait to get back. Felix is a joy as always and I've kinda had a guts full of the same black pant ensemble. What you doing later?"
Marinette: Oh Kitty, I'm sorry :) furrgive me?
Adrien: Always! ;) so what you doing later?
Marinette: Got a hot date lined up :D you?
Adrien: Me? I'm just washing my hair…
Marinette: Sounds wonderful!
Adrien: Seriously, you still up for a call tonight?
Marinette: Of course! What do you think I meant when I said hot date?! (•.~)
Marinette held her breath while three dots appeared and disappeared on her text chat again. They had been joking about back and forth, but there had not been much in the way of concrete evidence to suggest that their friendship was developing further…
…so Marinette decided to just throw it out there and hope for the best.
Adrien: I'm sure when I get back I can show you what a hot date really is!
Marinette's fingers lost the ability to type on her screen as a high pitched squeal sounded out in her mind and she discreetly jigged in her seat. The smile on her face was not something she could hide so easily however, and Marinette knew her face had gone bright red from the hot prickles she could suddenly feel wash over her. 'Oh my TIKKI! Be cool be cool…'
Luckily the ravenette was alone waiting for Alya and Nino to join her for lunch, and there were no prying eyes paying her any attention as Marinette calmed and fanned herself in order to reply. With her heart still beating rapidly in her chest, she managed to type out her reply, edit it so the writing did not seem as stuttered as she surely would have been in front of him, and clicked send.
'I think that's a great reply!'
"Let me guess," Marinette's eyes cut to Alya who was cocking her hip with an accusatory stare, "Blondie is on the phone again."
The slight panic that Nino's text had caused was overshadowed by Adrien's flirtatious back and forth messages to the girl he could not stop thinking about. The blonde had been chastised several times during his trip so far for lack of concentration, but the teen did not care: Adrien was just waiting for the time when they would board the train and he would be back in Paris. The company was apparently hoping that by taking the teen out of Paris for a few days, they could transform his image into something slightly edgier by utilising every waking hour. They had him posing alongside slightly older models, surrounded by both men and women, styling his hair differently and using more obscure angles: but the blonde only had one thing on his mind.
There were less than two days left of the trip until he could see her…
…and the hero had finally, however unplanned and indirect, told Marinette his intentions.
Adrien stared down at his phone and held his breath.
Plagg cackled while holding his belly in mid air.
"Why did I say that?" Adrien asked with a mix of astonishment and anxiousness at his very forward reply. "Less than a week ago I was still insisting that I love Ladybug, and now I'm certain I want to date Marinette!"
Plagg calmed enough to reply while pretending to wipe a tear away. "Kid, I'm proud of you! It's only natural you want to take Marinette out…" he rolled his eyes at the blonde's furrowed brow. "Don't be so worried, she likes you, you like her… you got to make sure she knows you're serious and not joking about though."
*DING*
Marinette: As long as I don't have a towel wrapped around my head and I'm not wearing my pajamas I'm game ;)
"Plagg." Adrien stared at his screen as a relieved smile spread across his face, "I don't think I need to worry about her thinking I'm joking."
Fortunately for Marinette, Alya was prevented from probing due to some of their classmates, including Lila, joining them in the cafeteria. Currently transformed and standing atop of the Eiffel Tower however, Ladybug was not going to be able to escape Rena's scrutinising questions. The ravenette knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before the budding reporter put Adrien's absence and Chat Noir's disappearance in-line and identified them as being the same person. The heroine could almost guarantee that was what Alya had been almost hinting at, but Ladybug was determined to not confirm anything.
Chat Noir's identity was not her secret to tell, just like Rena Rouge's identity was not a secret she would share…
…but Ladybug could not deny evidence if and when her best friend presented it.
"Chat Noir knows who I am."
The red and black spotted heroine turned abruptly to see her fellow teen staring at her with raised eyebrows. "I can promise you I did not tell him."
The fox heroine's expression softened, "I know, but you are not the only one who knew who I was."
The Guardian opened her mouth but nothing came out as Rena stepped towards her, "and because of that, I now know who Chat Noir is."
Ladybug let out the breath she had been holding onto, staring at Rena and awaiting her next words.
"Honestly it makes sense," the heroine crossed her arms and shrugged, "the question is though: do you know who he is?"
After her conversation with Alya, and the heroine telling her about Chat's obvious disgruntlement at them becoming closer in hero form, Marinette had been thinking. As Marinette, her and the blonde were obviously much closer now than they had been two weeks ago, close enough for him to be dropping in as soon as he arrived back in the city. His relationship with her alter ego however was somewhat strained, and this was something that needed fixing before she outed herself to him.
Since discussing the issue with the multiple Kwami in her room, Marinette found herself waiting for his train to arrive: but in civilian form, she was not.
Perched on top of a building, after sending her black clad partner a meme of Tom and Jerry in mid chase, she waited for him to enter the familiar vehicle next to the station entrance. Hoping that he would catch on to her massive hint to what would be in store for him, Marinette waited in her Multi Mouse attire and prepared herself to taunt the blonde to engage in a game of Chat and Multi Mouse around the city.
The heroine was praying that by letting Chat know that Ladybug was okay with him knowing her identity, that the black clad hero would feel less isolated and more involved.
The teen just hoped this idea would not backfire.
Either way she was about to find out.
The car ride back from the train station took way too long for Adrien's liking. The entire way had been plagued with tantalising glimpses of a hero in grey with adorable buns perched on either side of her head; and the blonde was more than eager to participate in the game she was enticing him to play. His knee would not stop bouncing, and Adrien was required to clench his teeth in order to keep himself relatively calm during the journey which never ususally took so long: the exciment almost had him barrel rolling out if the vehicle several times.
At first, when he received her last message, Adrien could have only dreamed that a game of Chat and Multi Mouse around the city was a possibility: seeing her in the flesh however, proved it was to become a reality. The blonde knew he could use the cover of being tired from his travels on the Sunday morning as a reason to retreat upstairs. When he reached his bedroom, Adrien made sure to lock his door and vault out before Plagg could even protest.
Spotting her two buildings away, Chat made quick work of catching up to his prey. Multi Mouse was elusive though, and the way she dipped in and out of his peripheral vision only enhanced the experience. The hero had been excited to drop in on Marinette and talk about when they could have their first official date, but now he was just enthralled by the expert way she maneuvered her way over the Parisian skyline. Their conversation the other night had been brief due to an impending visit from Rena Rouge, and the black clad hero was looking forward to having some uninterrupted time with the teen. He seriously hoped that Alya would steer clear of their little rendezvous, as secretly he was nervous enough about talking to her in person as it was.
Landing on some loose shingles, the cat hero crouched down and narrowed his eyes as he was sure the heroine had been in that spot moments earlier. He could still scent her in the air, and her smell of freshly baked bread and vanilla caused his stomach to flip and chest to swell; Chat knew she was close.
Sensing movement behind him, the cocky blonde readied himself to catch Multi Mouse off guard. By expertly turning and lunging behind him, the sureness of his execution was immediately scuppered however when a disgruntled flock of pigeons flew into the sky and the black clad hero sneezed comically before landing in a heap against a chimney stack.
Chat groaned, "at least no one saw that…"
The coy giggling suddenly sounding out behind him told the blonde otherwise though. Craning his neck from his position on the floor, the slightly embarrassed teen could see the grey heroine biting her lip and attempting to hide her amusement at his faux pas.
His adorable classmate sent him a small wave, "good to see you, Kitty."
The blonde wanted to say something smooth, but from his crumpled position he thought it would be pointless.
"Would you like a hand?" Multi Mouse asked while approaching him with a poorly hidden chuckle. The blush visible under her mask had him smiling too, and the blonde had one last idea at how to recover from this catastrophic reunion.
He reached out a clawed hand, "please," and as the grey and pink heroine offered him her assistance, Chat pulled her down and quickly adjusted their position, earning an adorable squeak in return. Sat with Multi Mouse sideways across his knee, Chat smirked at her beautiful wide eyes and slightly parted lips. "You fell right into my trap."
Multi Mouse snorted, the blonde's comment seemingly easing her out of her state of pleasant surprise. "I think you'll find that I was actually pulled," Multi Mouse bopped him on the nose before looking at him shyly from under her lashes.
Chat leaned teasingly into her space, "still caught you though," he winked and flashed her his pearly whites and gave the teen a tight squeeze, "now, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The ravenette furrowed her brow with mild confusion and the black clad hero gestured to her attire while elaborating. "You've been given a Miraculous, why would that be exactly?"
Blue eyes widened and the blush poking out from beneath her mask intensified, "oh uh," she thought for a second and tapped her gloved fingertips together. "Ladybug~ came and, uh, said it was o-fine that you erm, knew."
Chat's brow rose with mild curiosity as he rested his arm casually on her bent legs, "really?"
"Yeah," the heroine rubbed at the back of her neck, "she said that she uh, trusted you… what?" The teen noticed the dopey half smile that appeared on her partner's face and wanted to know what he was thinking. "Are you surprised?"
"A little," he confirmed while thoughtfully rubbing his jaw, "it's nice to know that she trusts me with your identity though," the blonde added reflectively, "I wonder what's changed?"
The grey and pink heroine saw this as the perfect time to reinforce how much her red and black alter ego thought of him: she needed the blonde to know just how indispensable he was. "I-I asked that too," Multi Mouse fibbed, "and Ladybug just said that she wasn't so afraid anymore." This was true, the prospect of Chat Blanc felt like it was becoming less likely with how much closer they were getting; and Tikki had reminded her that the situation was probably much different in that alternative timeline. "Sh-she said that, since becoming the Guardian, she had time t-to think about the rules, and decided that you being kept in the dark about my identity was not important."
Hmmmmm… Something tells me Chat will have some questions for Ladybug when he sees her next. Will they get through Marinette's hesitation, or will this only make things worse? Let me know! =D
Thanks for reading, the reviews, follows and faves!
Take it easy =^.^=
Lady Rhi X
