OHOHO WHAT?! SHE'S BACK?!
Sorry for the four year hiatus; I hit a mental health low right after I published the previous chapter, and then once I got back to writing APiP I decided I wanted to finish the story completely before publishing any more, to prevent another hiatus.
Soooooo we're BACK and it's PROM TIME and I have complicated feelings about the new seasons but not enough time to address them all here! (also we're gonna assume season 1 logic for a lot of what happens, i.e. no peacock or other miraculouses yet)
Aight, without further ado: Prom, part 1.
Marinette stepped into the ballroom of the Grand Hotel Paris. The lights were dim, the room lit only by the colored lights of the dance floor and string lights draped densely over the staircase bannisters. Tables of refreshments flanked the room, which was headed by the DJ's booth. In the center lay the dance floor itself, where a few promgoers were already dancing. Most of the students were still adjusting to the setting.
"Um… Shall we check out the upstairs?" Nathanael asked her.
She'd have a better view from up there. "Sure thing," she said, taking the elbow he offered her.
They ascended the stairs to the mezzanine, which was occupied by round tables and a bar lined with soft drinks. Marinette scoped out the windows, the bar, the blocked-off doorway and stairs to other parts of the hotel, and then looked out over the dance floor.
She took a deep breath. She and Chat Noir had been here before. They had this under control.
"Over here," called Alya, waving at Marinette and Nathanael. They – she, Nino, Adrien, and Lila – had claimed a table near the window.
Marinette and Nathanael walked over. "Nino's itching to dance, so we're heading down to the floor in a few minutes," Alya said. "Just wanted to stake our claim on this table."
They sat at the remaining two seats. Adrien turned to Marinette and smiled. "Doing okay?" he asked. He seemed nervous for some reason.
"Yeah, are you?"
(That wasn't what she meant to say, but it worked anyways. Go Marinette.)
"Mhm." He looked out at the other promgoers discovering the mezzanine. "Hope everything goes okay."
Marinette understood. "It probably won't," she said. "I think there's definitely going to be akumas tonight. Loads. But Ladybug and Chat Noir have our backs, and if we support them and believe in them… we'll be okay."
Adrien looked taken aback for a second, but then he nodded with a reassured smile. "Yeah. You're right."
Nino leaned towards Alya's ear. "You dropped something," he whispered.
"She said like, three complete sentences!" Alya squeaked back.
"Wait, at least let me say the punchline!"
"I'm so proud of her!"
"Your jaw, you dropped your jaw!"
Nathanael tapped Marinette's shoulder. "Do you want anything to drink?" he asked shyly.
"That would be wonderful," she said, beaming at him. Blushing, he got up from the table and speedwalked over to the bar.
"Lila? Would you like a drink?" Adrien asked his date.
"Water would be lovely."
Adrien stood and followed Nathanael. Alya and Nino headed down to the dance floor. "I hope you're not mad," Lila murmured to Marinette, crossing one leg over the other.
"Mad?"
"That I'm with Adrien tonight, instead of you."
Marinette blinked. That was… surprisingly considerate of her. "Oh, no, not at all!"
"That's good. Because I've invested a lot in this night, and I'm hoping it won't be spoiled."
Marinette narrowed her eyes. Okay. Maybe considerate wasn't the word. "Spoiled how?"
Lila shrugged nonchalantly. "I came with a prom date. I'd prefer to keep him."
Marinette had a retort ready to go – but she stopped herself.
Be careful. Don't get anyone akumatized – least of all Ladybug herself.
"I think you'll be fine," said Marinette, pushing her chair away from the table. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going find my prom date."
She left Lila at the table and easily found Nathanael. Adrien passed them with a smile. Nathanael offered her a cup.
"Thanks," she said, taking it from him. "Want to go dance after this?" she asked.
"Uh," he said, seeming extremely uncomfortable. "I don't really dance."
"Oh," said Marinette, surprised. "Okay."
"But, um, you can go dance," he said quickly. "I mean, don't feel obligated… one way or another."
She considered the options. She did want to stay with Nathanael, at least for a bit. But Alya and Nino were down there – plus Lila and Adrien were heading down now – and being in a crowd would make it easier to disappear and transform.
"Okay," she said. "I'll finish my drink first."
They ditched the table and headed over to the railing. About a quarter of the promgoers were on the dance floor; the rest were either hanging back at a table or along the wall, or shyly making moves toward the middle.
Marinette was too busy observing to realize that the silence between her and Nathanael was awkward – at least for him. "So," he said finally. "Um… how… have… you been?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette spotted someone running out of the ballroom. It was go time. "I'm gonna go dance now," she said, downing her drink. "See you in a bit!"
"See you," Nathanael said, watching her go.
"You're joking," June said in dismay.
Lieutenant Roger shook his head. "I'm afraid your dress is too short," he informed her. "You will not be allowed to attend the prom in that."
"It reaches mid-thigh," June protested.
"Your fingers hang past the hem."
"I have long arms!"
"Well, besides the skirt length, the neckline shows cleavage and the back is too low. No, Mademoiselle Lefebvre. You will not be allowed in until your dress adheres to our school's dress code."
June stormed out. Sure she didn't adhere to the dress code. And Lieutenant Roger finding fault with her cleavage certainly didn't mean he'd had to look at it in the first place.
The night air cooled her anger, transforming it into sadness. There went her prom night.
Lila spotted Adrien walking back into the hall. "Where have you been?" she asked him, smiling.
"Getting a drink," he said, smiling back.
"Don't we still have drinks upstairs?"
"I finished mine."
Lila glanced behind him, her smile curling into a grimace. Adrien looked at where she was looking, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just Marinette walking in.
"Anyways. Let's dance," she said, taking his hand and pulling him out into the floor.
Adrien let it happen, albeit wondering why Lila was acting oddly. But they weren't dancing for long by the time someone else ran out of the room, leading Adrien to come up with another excuse – there was so much irony in lying to Lila Rossi – and head back out.
Angel fidgeted with their watch. The silver rectangles of the band dug into their wrist, making it feel itchy.
They still weren't certain why they were here. Something something their friends were going and wanted them to come too. Usually they managed to duck out of things like this, though. Things with flashing lights and loud noises and too many bodies and unfamiliar formal clothing. They never told their friends why; they just made up excuses. They told themself that they could manage just one night, maybe push themself out of their comfort zone for their friends' sake.
But mon Dieu, this was the worst. Even on the perimeter, Angel's heart was pounding, but getting close to the heart of the dance floor was like submerging themself in a scream.
One of their friends spotted them on the sidelines and beckoned them towards the middle. They swallowed, adjusted their watch, and reentered the fray.
You can do this, they told themself. You can–
The music swelled suddenly – exploded, in Angel's head – accompanied by a wild lightshow. The crowd cheered and started to dance with more energy around Angel, building on the overload of senses in their head.
I can't.
Angel ran.
"Marinette?" said a voice in the foyer.
She jumped; it was Adrien. "What are you up to?" he asked her.
"Oh! Just… I think I lost… an earring?"
He pointed to her ear. "I think you've got both," he let her know, vaguely wondering why she'd worn her usual pair of brown studs to a formal event.
"Oh!" she said, touching her earlobes. "Phew."
Adrien laughed good-naturedly. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the ballroom. She blushed and nodded.
Lila appeared suddenly upon their return. "There you are," she said to Adrien, shooting Marinette a dirty look. "Come on, it's your favorite song."
Marinette knew quite well that this was not Adrien's favorite song, but she bit her tongue. She hurried over to the stairs to visit Nathanael again.
Nino and Alya found Adrien and Lila. "Everything okay?" Nino yelled to him over the music. Adrien gave two thumbs up, which Nino took to mean that for one thing, yes, he was genuinely doing fine, and for another, no, he didn't notice the look Lila was giving him.
Mireille waved to her friends on the dance floor. They waved back and turned away from her, continuing to enjoy their night.
She sighed. It was supposed to be their night. Her night. But this monster headache that had surfaced was preventing her from having any fun at all. Moving around made it worse, so she was parked on a chair on the mezzanine, her chin resting on the railing as she watched her friends from above. She was moving on to lycéesoon; this was her only chance at a prom. What a waste, to spend it all alone.
Mireille closed her eyes. Her head hurt. She adjusted the barrette in her hair so it would pull on her scalp less.
Marinette returned through the balcony (she'd told Nathanael she needed some air) and approached the table he was sitting at. She was halfway there when Alya ran over and dragged her downstairs instead. "Come on, you're missing the best songs."
Lila eyed Marinette, but remained next to Adrien on the dance floor. Marinette glanced up at Nathanael on the balcony. She waved. He waved back.
Alix and Max were laughing together at the way Kim was dancing. Chloé and Sabrina gossiped at a table on the sidelines. Juleka and Rose hovered near the edge of the dance floor, their hands clasped together. Ivan and Mylène were headbanging, blissfully unaware of the confused looks of the promgoers around them.
Marinette exhaled. Prom was going well.
And then the music slowed.
Lila wordlessly placed her hands on Adrien's shoulders and settled into a ballroom embrace. Adrien was stunned by how quickly this happened, but he went with it. He placed his hands gingerly on her hips and swayed a little to the music.
Marinette turned away with a shudder. She said to Alya, who was dancing with Nino, "I'm gonna go find Nathanael."
"Okay," said Alya, glancing at Adrien.
Marinette wove through the crowd of promgoers. She and Nathanael reached the bottom of the mezzanine stairs at the same time.
"Ah, Marinette." Nathanael extended a hand towards her. "May I have this dance?"
Marinette smiled at the gentlemanly gesture. "Oui," she said, taking his hand.
He placed his hands on her hips; she placed hers on his shoulders. Their faces were closer than she expected; Marinette, slightly uncomfortable but trying not to be, leaned back ever so slightly to give herself room to breathe. She didn't know where to place her eyes, so she settled for staring at his shoulder.
It was okay, though. She appreciated having someone who cared about her enough to dance with her.
Vivienne tore her eyes away from her friends. Friends. Yes. Friends. Her friends.
…okay. Here's the thing. Vivienne did fall for Noelle first. And she did confide almost exclusively in Melodie about it. But was it Melodie's fault that Melodie and Noelle fell for each other? No one can control who they fall for. When Melodie eventually told Vivienne about it, she said as much – "I wish I'd fallen for anyone but her," she told Vivienne woefully. "I'm so sorry this happened."
But it was okay. Vivienne understood. And Noelle and Melodie were both Vivienne's friends, so she wanted them to be happy. If she was truly their friend – if she truly loved them – then she would want them to be happy together. She would be happy for them.
And she was. She supported their budding relationship wholeheartedly. Trying to be an ideal friend was going… surprisingly well. She wasn't really over Noelle yet. But she actually did support them. At first she worried about the match – Noelle tended to be very direct, and Melodie very sensitive – but she was starting to see that the two brought out something more in each other. The relationship made Melodie more assertive and Noelle more gentle.
They were at prom together. They were dancing in each other's arms. They were her new favorite couple. They were her friends.
Which didn't explain why, when Melodie and Noelle leaned their heads closer to each other, Vivienne suddenly needed to run from the room.
The slowdance came to a close. "I guess you'll want to return to your friends, huh?" said Nathanael.
Marinette glanced over to where Alya, Nino, Adrien, and Lila were gathered. "You don't mind?" she asked him.
He shook his head.
"Well… okay. Let me know if you're feeling lonely. Or come join us!"
Nathanael let go of the girl he loved. He probably wouldn't join them. There wasn't much he could do for her. She'd be happiest out there with her friends.
His heart sank as he saw Adrien laugh at something she said to him. She'd be happiest out there with the boy she loved.
Jules lay the king of spades down on the table, completing his game of solitaire. He leaned back and stretched his arms up above his head, gazing out at the empty table in front of him.
Robin was here with Isabelle, and Martin with Claire. The fact that he was fifthwheeling wasn't a big deal until the slowdance, when the other four split off in their pairs and Jules moved off to the side. After the slow song, he assumed they'd all reconvene. But the other four stayed in their separate pairs, leaving him in an awkward interim.
He attempted to join other classmates, but they, too, were all in couples. So he'd retreated to the mezzanine to play cards, trying to ignore the anxious sense that he was wasting his prom night.
Jules sat there for a minute, staring at the cards, not really wanting to reshuffle them.
This wouldn't have been so bad, if not for… well, this was kind of how things were going… The five of them had been inseparable once. But then Robin and Isabelle started going out, leaving the other three. And now that Martin and Claire were becoming a couple, Jules had the rising worry that sometime in the near future, he'd be all alone. This was both a confirmation of his fears and… the beginning of the end.
He remembered reading something about the difference between being lonely and being lonely in a crowded room. The latter was so much worse.
He reached out to pick up the cards.
Adrien returned through the balcony, breathing hard, having been too short on time after Cataclysm to go around to the proper entrance. Right after the akumatized girl was an akumatized boy, both over a variation of a slowdance problem. Ladybug was helping them find solutions now.
Nathanael idly watched Adrien make his way over to the stairs, where he was confronted by Lila. "You keep disappearing on me," she accused him.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I needed air."
"You've needed a lot of air," she said.
"I sure have," he said with an innocent smile, walking past her and starting down the stairs. With a huff, Lila glanced around, made eye contact with Nathanael for a moment, and followed Adrien.
Nathanael returned to his sketchbook, but in a few seconds Marinette came in through the same balcony doors. "How's it going?" she asked him.
"Pretty well," he said.
She glanced at his sketchbook. "Wow, I think you improved my dress," she said, half joking, half in awe of his art as always.
He blushed, resisting the urge to cover the drawing of Marinette in her prom dress. "Not really. You're lovely– it's lovely as is."
She smiled. "Maybe those earrings would have been better, though," she said, indicating the dangly earrings he'd drawn.
"Oh, those. They were just an experiment." His finger skimmed the page, pointing to her hair and her dress. "They complement your hairpiece, but don't detract too much from the dress."
"I like it." Marinette said, glancing over the mezzanine railing.
"You don't have to indulge me," Nathanael said.
"Hm?"
"Don't let me keep you from dancing."
"Oh, it's not that, I was just–"
"Really, it's okay," he said, standing up. "I'm going to get some air anyways."
Marinette hesitated. "Well… if you're sure," she said.
"Go ahead."
She smiled at him and headed for the stairs. Nathanael took his sketchbook and headed out to the balcony. It was empty, which confirmed his worst fears – Marinette had been out there with Adrien and no one else.
Robin returned to his date with a pair of cups. "Merci beaucoup," Isabelle said, taking one.
"You're welcome," he said with a smile. He was glad things were going smoothly. When he'd asked her to la bal, he hadn't realized how much it would cost. Isabelle was from a fairly well-off family, so she was easily able to handle her dress, makeup, hair, nails… whatever girls need to pay for when they go to prom. He'd barely managed to purchase a corsage and boutonniere and rent a suit.
It was turning out to be a worthwhile investment, though. They were having a great time; the two of them both loved dancing, and all their favorite songs were playing. It couldn't have been going better.
And then someone bumped into Isabelle from behind, knocking her and her cup of dark red punch into Robin's chest. "Sorry," he said carelessly, dancing away from them.
Robin was speechless. "I'm so sorry!" said Isabelle, as if it was her fault. "Let me find some napkins…"
The napkins didn't take out the stain. "It's okay," Robin said. "It's probably… It's okay."
He tried not to think about the dry-clean-only labels all over his suit.
"What's this about?"
Lila let go of Adrien's hand and turned around to face him. "It's about us," she said in a hushed voice, trying not to let her words resonate in the empty foyer. "I keep seeing you with Marinette."
"Yeah? She's my friend."
"You know she has a huge crush on you, right?"
Adrien sighed. "You don't need to make things up to win me over."
"I'm not–"
He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Lila, this is supposed to be a dance with friends," he said softly. "I'm going to be hanging out with my friends. With Marinette, sure, and Nino, and Alya."
"What about me? You're my prom date."
Adrien removed his hand from her shoulder. "I'm here with you. I'm not yours." Before she started fuming, he added, "I'm not trying to say we're not friends. We are. Let's go back and dance with the others."
Grouchy rather than mad, she muttered, "Fine." They returned to the ballroom.
"And now, it's time to announce the winner of the promposal competition!"
The crowd cheered. Adrien realized Marinette was missing. After a quick search, he located her by the food table.
"Want anything to eat?" he asked Lila.
"No, then I won't be able to dance."
Adrien left. The DJ declared Hugo's promposal the winner, eliciting some cheers from their friends and moderate applause from (mostly) everyone else.
"I saw the video of Hugo's," huffed Alya. "Yours was much better."
Nino shrugged. "Eh. It was worth it. I got to do something special for my favorite girl."
Adrien approached Marinette. "You okay?" he asked her over the loud music.
She jumped, saw it was him, and relaxed. "Yeah," she said. "I'm just tired."
Adrien nodded. From staying up late working on her prom dress. Of course. "Your dress turned out really well," he said. "You should definitely include it in a fashion portfolio in the future."
She smiled softly in a way that brought him peace. "Thanks," she said. "How's your night been?"
"It's been going great! The akumas – if there have been any akumas, it seems like they've all been dealt with."
"Yeah," Marinette agreed. "I'm sure there have been some, but we haven't seen any of their effects. Ladybug and Chat Noir must be doing really well."
(Okay, she was maybe pretty proud of how little visible damage the akumas had wrought.)
"Ladybug's never failed us," Adrien said.
"Ladybug and Chat Noir have never failed us," Marinette corrected him.
"I mean, he fails sometimes. But Ladybug pulls through."
"Chat Noir doesn't fail. He gets hit by the akuma victim sometimes, but he always plays a significant role in saving Paris, in the end. He's just as important as Ladybug."
Adrien smiled. Could she see him blushing? "Glad you have faith in him, too."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a boy storming out, followed by a girl. "I need to use the restroom," he said, dismayed that he had to cut off their conversation.
"Me too," said Marinette, laughing lightly. "Guess this is a theme today."
Adrien grinned. They speedwalked to the restrooms.
"Hugo won. I can't believe Hugo won."
"Léo, give it a rest," said Stella, following Léo outside.
Léo shook his head. "You put so much work into your promposal. You wrote a whole script, made costumes, got a whole cast of our friends to play roles – and you get shown up by Hugo, who does what? Buys ten seconds of time on a football scoreboard that says, 'Giselle, prom?'"
"Léo–"
"It wasn't remotely creative!"
"Léo, it's okay. Calm down. I'm not even mad about this."
He shook his head furiously. "I am. You deserved it much more than Hugo."
Stella thought of what to say, but then she realized there was something dark fluttering down towards Léo.
"Léo, look out!"
She tried to push him aside, but didn't succeed before the akuma hit his boutonniere.
"All right, Paris! Last slow song of the night, so if you were looking for a sign, now's the time," said the DJ.
Nathanael wasn't looking for a sign, but he was looking for Marinette. Last time she'd walked over to him, but now he couldn't see her from the mezzanine. Maybe she'd reach him by the time he walked downstairs.
Lila approached him at the bottom of the stairs. "Have you seen Adrien?" she asked him.
"No."
She huffed. "He's been disappearing all night. Of course he wouldn't be around during the last slowdance."
"I'm missing Marinette, too," said Nathanael.
Lila frowned. "Huh…"
They searched the ground floor, weaving through couples to search the food tables, the bathrooms, the dance floor, the foyer outside the ballroom. Time was ticking and their last chance was waning.
It wasn't a long battle, but by the time Ladybug dropped down onto the balcony, there was a slow song playing. She detransformed and ran in to find Nathanael.
He wasn't at the table, but she grabbed a cookie off of someone's plate. Tikki took it and swooped into Marinette's skirt to hide. Across the mezzanine, Vivienne and Jules were sitting at a table, playing cards with Angel and Mireille where the noise wouldn't bother them so much.
"Hey," said Adrien, walking over to the table while unbuttoning his jacket.
"Hey," said Marinette. Adrien reached across the table to grab a cup (his unbuttoned jacket dangled low enough to mask Plagg swooping down and grabbing cheese off of his plate). "You're not dancing?"
Adrien hunted for an excuse. "I'm… I can't find Lila."
"Oh. Uh, yeah, I lost Nathanael."
The song's last notes resonated through the room. "Oh…" Marinette said, her heart sinking.
Adrien understood. "Hey," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault. At least, I really doubt it's your fault. And I'm sure Nathanael will understand. Besides, there'll be another one."
Marinette let it sink in, then nodded gratefully. "Okay," she said.
Nathanael figured he already knew who Marinette was with. But when he and Lila arrived at the top of the stairs, seeing Adrien with his hand on her shoulder still felt like his intestines were being electrocuted.
Guess I'm really not enough for her, he thought.
Lila, of course, was hurt, but she shaped her pain into fury. How dare she–!
"Come on," she said to Nathanael, pulling him back down the stairs.
"Wh– where are we going?"
"Outside." Her eyes burned. We're ready for you, Papillon.
