Summary:
Ladybug was a part of her, she'll always remember that, but just as Ladybug was a part of her, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was who she was before the miraculous came into her grasp.She remembers, remembers the times before Ladybug and She'll remember the time after.
Notes:
Implied sexual content ahead...
Chapter: Moments
It's almost 1am, she'd yet to return home to her no doubt frightened and worried parents. She saw the news coverage, saw news stations still covering and grasping for answers.
She was deemed missing and even speculated to be dead. Her face was no doubt on just about every television screen in Paris.
"Marinette, you need to go home, your family, they must think the worst has happened to you, I believed you'd been killed till you came here.", Master Fu speaks, he stood in front of the bathroom door, great concern present in his voice. No doubt He saw what happened, no doubt he believed Marinette had been killed in action. Till she showed up at the new place he was occupying.
A soft sigh escaped passed her lips, she leaned over the sink, staring into the mirror, meeting her reflection's gaze, deep sapphire stared back as she continued to contemplate her next moves, weighing her options and will, her knuckles turned white due to her grip over the edges of the sink. She wanted to do many things, wanted to say many things. This time, she would be more honest with herself and less hesitant with the things she wanted. Her words will no longer find themselves trapped on the edge of the tip of her tongue, she would say her truth and pursue her wants.
She can still be selfless with the occasional instance of selfish.
She was human, she was not meant to be perfect, she was allowed to make mistakes, allowed to be afraid. She will embrace herself, her true self, she will give in to the occasional needs the side that isn't Ladybug, has, her wants and desires will no longer all go silenced.
She will grow from error and rise from her falls. "I have something to do first.", she finally gives Fu a response.
"Marinette.", Fu speaks again, insistence slowly filling his tone. "Your family-"
"They can wait.", Marinette cuts him off, because yes, they can wait, her family can wait, she on the other hand, couldn't, didn't want to and yes, it was perhaps the most incredibly selfish thing she done so far, her not returning home immediately after being fatally injured in front of thousands of people to reassure her parents that she was alive and fine. She needed this, even if it came at the expense of her parents suffering for just a few more hours; Marinette needed, wanted to see Chloé.
Yesterday was almost a day she wouldn't finish and today was a day she almost didn't see. This moment, like every moment, are moments that she can never get back, she had to make the most of it, needed to stop hesitating and 'waiting for the right moment'. There are no right moments, moments are what you make of them and a part of Marinette is upset it took her all this time to finally realize that, truly.
She would remember this.
They went their separate ways, leaving a still distant Marinette with Fu.
Chloé is immediately taken aback by the amount of news reporters surrounding the hotel, she contemplated telling Kagami to drop her off in some random corner so she could sneak in through the back of the hotel, but changed her mind when she met Kagami's worried gaze.
"Maybe this was a bad idea, you can stay over my house till this whole thing washes over.", Kagami says, looking out the tinted window of the limo.
Chloé swallows thickly and releases a shaky breath, "No, no it's fine. Really, this is fine.", she feels anxiousness settling in the pit of her stomach, she manages to swallow the knot in her throat, she tries to keep it together, wants to compose herself enough to make it past the crowd, she just wants to be somewhere familiar, somewhere safe.
"Chloé-", Kagami tries to speak again, wanting to convince the heiress to stay with her, but just as lips part, Chloé's hand is on the handle of the car door, already pushing and opening the door.
Immediately the flashing of lights shower upon the blonde and voices soon come in like Ocean waves.
It's overwhelming, it's too much, Chloé feels her legs begin to shake, her legs begin to feel like something akin to jelly. She clenched her jaw and keeps her gaze forwards, avoiding any and all direct eye contact with any of the reporters camera lenses. She shuts the limo door and begins her journey through the crowd, while on the outside it appeared that Chloé's walk through the crowd was a quick minute, to Chloé, it felt like an eternity, weaving and turning between the many reporters was difficult, she was silent, ignoring all the questions that were thrown her way, clenching her jaw so tightly it was starting to ache. She feels her breathing becoming more and more ragged and uneven as she moved closer and closer to the hotel doors, felt her will slowly faltering, she felt her eyes beginning to burn, prickling. Her facade was cracking and her composure was splitting at the seams.
"CHLOÉ!", a deep voice calls out from the now open hotel doors.
Chloé feels slight relief wash in, she focuses her gaze and sees her father along with some hotel staff and police officers suddenly rushing towards her. Chloé feels an unwanted tear roll down her cheek.
"Get away from my daughter!", Andre yells, furious at the crowd that was swarming his daughter, he ran to her side quickly, shoving a few people out of his way, not caring about anything around him, his focus was solely on his daughter.
"Step back!", officers began to chant as they now intervened, no doubt they were waiting for Chloé to return, no doubt her father had organized the police force to respond.
She leaned into her father's arms and allowed him to lead her the rest of the way.
"Chloé, what happened? You, you were Ladybug?", Her father begins to speak once they're inside the hotel, away from the many reporters.
Chloé pulls away from her father's arms, she releases a shaky breath, her lips quivered. Her knees suddenly buck and she nearly falls but she reacts quick enough to bend and place her shaky hands on her wobbly knees, she screws her eyes shut and tries to collect herself, trying to catch her breath, which are now coming out in huffs and puffs.
She can feel all eyes on her.
"Chloé.", her father speaks again, this time, in a much softer tone.
"Just...I want to go to my room.", Chloé manages to say between huffs.
Andre hums softly. "O-Okay.", he says.
Chloé feels her breathing slowly returning to normal, feels her heart starting to beat at a more normal pace, but just as she gathers herself, she hears the clicking of heels. She opens her eyes and slowly lifts her head and gaze, she stands up straight, she immediately locks eyes with her mother.
'Mother.', The young heiress thinks.
Audrey looks concerned for a moment, her eyes searching Chloé's own, but just as worry and concern appear, it disappears. Her lips part-
Chloé breaks her eyes off of her mother's own and turns away, feeling that whatever her mother had to say was not going to help her. She turns her body, giving her mother her back and suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, jogs off, turning to a door that leads to stairs.
She runs up the stairs, nearly tripping every other step, she makes it to the top and pushes the door that leads to her floor, open, she then runs to her room, huffing and puffing, heart racing all over again. She slips into her room and practically slams the door shut, locking it, she then turns and presses her back against the door, slowly sliding down to rest onto her bottom.
"Are you okay?", Plagg appears, leaving the comfort of the heiress's sweater, his voice gentle.
"No I...just…", fresh tears begin to dance on long lashes once again.
Plagg frowns sadly, his ears slowly flattened onto his head, "It's okay, everything's gonna be okay.", he says.
Lips quivered again, she feels overwhelmed, pent up, angry, sad. She felt so many things at once. She was forced to learn how it feels to lose someone she loved, she believed she had lost Marinette. There was no going back from that and it hurt, hurt so much, despite seeing Marinette choke up with breath, despite feeling the Dupain-Cheng's heart resume it's rhythmic thumping in her chest, Chloé couldn't bring herself to forget it, to unsee the eerily calm expression on Marinette's face when she was unconscious and not breathing.
She wrapped her arms around herself, she couldn't help it, couldn't stop thinking about it, thinking about what she would have done if Marinette wouldn't have came back. She whimpered softly.
Plagg fell silent, not wanting to push the girl or make her angry. He sighed softly, watching her.
Soft whimpers and sniffles keep the blonde preoccupied enough to miss the sound of a thump outside her sliding glass doors. She remains oblivious to the other presence until the sliding door opens, she hears the familiar squeaking. The heiress lifts her head, her gaze immediately falls onto the very object of her thoughts.
Marinette steps in, Tikki floating silently beside her.
Chloé's lips pull into a pout, she feels her heart begin to do it's special acrobatic routine in her chest at the sight of the Dupain-Cheng, her cheeks growing warm.
"Chloé.", Marinette is the first to speak, her gaze is soft, gentle even. She slowly begins to step over to her.
The blonde shifts, sliding her back back up the surface of the door, she stands straight, dropping her arms to her sides, more tears begin to roll down her cheeks.
Marinette's expression becomes pained, "Chloé-"
"I was so scared.", the blonde manages to whisper out, "I thought...I thought I lost you, I-"
The gap between them shortens significantly as Marinette draws much closer, reaching out with open arms, she pulls the blonde into a hug, she holds her tightly.
"Sh, sh, it's okay, I'm not going anywhere.", Marinette gently hushes the heiress, wanting to comfort her.
Chloé melts into the hug immediately, she lifts her arms from her sides and wraps them around the teen's neck, her arms sliding around shoulders.
They hold each other for quite some time, just basking in the moment. Their Kwamis silently looked on.
"I'm sorry.", Marinette speaks, breaking the silence.
The blonde nods her head and pulls away, breaking the hug but remaining close to the teen. "For what?", she asks, now facing the teen.
"For hurting you, for making you put up with me, for making you cry. I...I was just so bitter, so angry, so afraid but I...I had no right to take all of that out on you, Chloé. You didn't deserve that, deserve the way I was treating you.", the girl says sincerely.
"It's okay, Marinette, you were going through a lot.", Chloé counters, she brings a hand up to the side of Marinette's face, gently holding it, she feels warmth blossoming in her chest when Marinette leans into her touch, she smiles when those lovely sapphire eyes close.
Marinette feels a lump get lodged in her throat for a moment, she calms herself, wanting to say everything the right way, collecting her thoughts so that she doesn't stumble or struggle to get a hold of words. She basks in the affectionate touch of Chloé's hand, she relaxes.
"You mean a lot to me.", the Dupain-Cheng manages to say, eyes opening, she sees the heiress's cheeks grow a darker shade of pink and sees eyes widened slightly. Marinette swallows thickly, she lifts her hands, one going to Chloé's hip, the other traveled to the hand that was holding the side of her face, she takes a hold of it and removes it from her face, she relocates it, placing Chloé's hand against her chest, just over where her heart resided, thumping hard and fast.
Chloé's lips part slightly, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words to say.
Marinette searches the blonde's eyes, searching for any discomfort, to which she quickly finds none. "You're my best friend, Chloé."
Eyebrows furrow slightly, Chloé almost physically winced at the strong title Marinette bestowed upon her, but the stinging sensation of being stung with the edge of a friend zone is quickly forgotten when Marinette says the words she's always wanted to hear.
"I love you, a lot and by a lot I mean...I love you more than a best friend, I'm in love with you, from the start, from the moment you helped me picked myself up, I just…", Marinette trailed off, her lips tugging into a soft smile when she sees surprise wash over Chloé's face and new tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Marinette.", Chloé's lips trembled, her hands slowly balled up, now gripping the material of the girl's shirt.
Marinette felt her face warm up, she kept her gaze on Chloé's own, "Can I...kiss you?", she asks, tenderly.
"God, you don't even have to ask me, Marinette.", Chloé manages words, her lips curling into a watery smile.
Marinette's lips curl upward as well. She feels giddy, feels happy inside, but that feeling is nothing compared to what she feels the moment her lips finally meet Chloé's own. It's like a shock to the system, in a good way, it takes her breath away, it's everything and more but also somehow not enough at the same time.
Chloé feels happy tears escaping her closed eyes, she feels warmth come over and wrap around her like a blanket, it grips her being. Any and all fears she had vanished, any doubt that lingered and whispered in the back of her head, disappeared. She was whole again, no longer falling apart at the seams.
This was one of those moments, Marinette couldn't help but think, a 'what you make of it' type of moment.
Chloé's hands begin to pull at her shirt, tugging. Her heart racing in her chest as her lips continued to meet Marinette's own in kisses that were becoming more and more intense, it was almost bruising.
Marinette feels it, understands it and wants it, wants it just as much as Chloé does. She wants to be closer too.
The Kwamis both grew wide eyed at the sudden turn of events, both immediately retreat to Chloé's closet when Marinette breaks the passionate kissing only to peel her shirt off her body.
It's then when the Kwamis both realized that their masters were going to need privacy.
And privacy, they grant them.
Marinette and Chloé both knew that words still needed to be shared between them, they needed to talk, but for now, for the rest of tonight till dawn, they would communicate with intimacy and passionate kisses. Love would be their language, a language neither thought they would come to speak together.
This would be one of those moments Marinette will always remember. A moment that wasn't about Ladybug and The Black Cat, no, this was about her, about Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloé Bourgeois.
They're in each other's arms, holding each other. Parts of the bedroom were bathed in the sun's warm rays of light, light that creeped in through the curtains.
It was just them, in their own little world, enjoying each other's company, basking in the warmth that they knew, only each other could provide.
"I love you.", Marinette whispers softly, her arms wrapped tightly around the heiress's body, bare, soft and against her own. They were chest to chest, Chloé sitting in her lap, her legs on either side of her hips.
"I love you too, Mari.", Chloé's voice is soft, sincere and warm, one of her hands dipped into the messy hair on the back of Marinette's head, gently tugging the hair into her fist, her other arm was tightly wrapped around the Dupain-Cheng's neck, half her face buried in the crook of Marinette's neck.
Marinette sighed softly, her chin resting over Chloé's shoulder, she ran her hands over Chloé's naked back, gently caressing the skin with the tips of her finger tips. "I'm never going to hurt you again, I promise, for real this time."
Chloé's lips curled upward, tears escaped her eyes as she nuzzled into her lover's neck...they were lover's right? Surely. "Mari?", she speaks again, closing her eyes.
"Yes?", Marinette answers.
Chloé swallows thickly,opening her eyes, she slowly leans back, breaking their long hug, she places her hands over Marinette's shoulders as she faces her. "I know that everything's still fresh but-", she paused, feeling like maybe she was going too fast, that maybe she was going to push Marinette away. She broke eye contact with the Dupain-Cheng, looking away, feeling ashamed.
Marinette rose an eyebrow, Chloé's expression said it all, she understood what Chloé needed, understood that the heiress wanted to know where they would go from here. Marinette had the answer, she knew, knew back then, when she first woke up from the brink of death. "I love you, Chloé and I'm yours if you'll have me.", she says, her expression softened, she searched for Chloé's gaze, wanting to reassure the blonde.
Chloé's cheeks flushed, her gaze lifted and she once again looked up to meet those sincere sapphire eyes. "I...I do want you, Marinette, I do, I just...just…", doubt was starting to fill her tone, fear began to take over her expression.
"Chloé, talk to me, tell me what you want to say.", Marinette leaned back a little more, wanting to give her a little more space, all the while still keeping a hand over the small of Chloé's back. She placed her free hand behind her, keeping herself propped up.
Chloé sighed softly. "I'm scared, I love you so much, Marinette, I...I don't know what I'll do if I lose you, I…", fresh tears began to roll down pink cheeks.
"Chloé, hey, hey.", Marinette began to hush the blonde softly, wanting to comfort her, she shifted, now sitting up straight, both her arms wrapped around Chloé. Her Chloé. "Relax, don't cry.", Marinette spoke gently, "You won't lose me, alright.", she met the blonde's watery gaze. "It's you and me till the end-", she pauses for a moment, unwrapping an arm from around Chloé, she lifts her hand up and takes a hold of the side of Chloé's face, gently brushing her thumb over the wet cheek, she keeps her expression soft, looks at her with as much love as she could, "-my queen.", she breathes out softly between them.
Chloé's eyes widened slightly, more tears shimmering in her eyes, her lips pull into a pout.
Marinette smiles tenderly.
It's a promise, her words, her smile, Marinette would do better, will be better, she had, needed to, for herself.
She wakes up well past noon, turning onto her side, opening her eyes and reaching an arm out, reaching, she's met with the empty space next to her. She sighs softly, she shifts and sits up, the comforter pooling in her lap, she looked around, feeling slight worry and concern creeping in. "Chloé?", she says loud enough to be heard.
Nothing, no response.
"Chloé?", she calls out again, Marinette swallows thickly, she puts her hands in her lap and drops her gaze to her quickly whitening knuckles, fear beginning to build in the pit of her stomach-
"Marinette?", Chloé's voice finally calls back., the sound of the bathroom door clicking open came. "Hey there sleepy head, did you sleep well?", she speaks again.
Marinette lifts her gaze, looking up, she meets those lovely sapphire eyes, half of Chloé's body poking out from the bathroom, her body clad in a red, soft looking robe.
It all comes back to her, fresh and vividly.
"Love? Are you okay?", Chloé speaks again, this time moving closer, opening the door all the way, she steps out of the bathroom and walks over to her, worry washing over her face as she got closer and closer.
What does she mean? Of course she was okay. Marinette couldn't help but think to herself, she couldn't be better.
"Oh Mari.", Chloé's voice becomes soft, her gaze becomes tender and her touch was gentle, slowly bringing a hand up to take a hold of the side of Marinette's face, thumb gently brushing over the warm cheek, her other hand settled over her lover's shoulder.
Marinette swallows thickly, she feels her heart skipping, thumping harder and harder. This was real, of course it was. It happened, they happened. She released a soft sigh of relief, she closes her eyes, leaning into Chloé's touch.
"Sorry, sorry, I just…", Marinette sighs again.
"It's okay, love, it's just us.", Chloé smiles lovingly.
Marinette's lips curl up now, she opens her eyes and meets Chloé's tender gaze again, there was no mistaking the love that Chloé stared at her with, "I'm glad we happened...finally."
Chloé's cheeks now burn a light shade of pink, her own lips now curling into a more sheepish smile, "I-I'm glad too, Mari.",
The heiress is certainly glad, she's happy, she's with the love of her life, certainly. She would do anything for Marinette.
"I love you so much.", Marinette breathes out.
Chloé feels her heart skip, "I love you too, darling.", she softenes her expression and leans in, eyes closing, she presses her lips against Marinette's own.
"Chloé!", Marinette recoils and squeaks out as she breaks their kiss. "Ihave'tbrushedyet!", the words come spilling out of her lips in a heap.
Chloé blushes, she barely withholds the giggle building in her throat. "So?", she says, smiling.
Marinette pouted adorably. "No kissing until I brush.", she says, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Chloé giggles now, enjoying the sight of a flustered Marinette.
"Chloé!", Marinette whines slightly.
Chloé's hand drops from Marinette's face, it slides down to her neck before it slides down one more time, this time, her hand settled over Marinette's naked chest, over her thumping heart. "Fine.", she yields, still giggling.
It was now Marinette's turn to blush, "Speaking of which, do you have an extra-"
"I do, it's under the sink.", Chloé says, her giggles now ceasing, but her smiling remained. "I also have your clothes washing, Daddy sent Jean up to see if there was anything I needed, so I gave him your clothes."
At the mention of Jean Marinette physically winced, her expression dropped a bit, and Chloé immediately takes note.
"What's wrong?", Chloé asks.
"Nothing...just...well, does, does anyone know I'm here? Did you tell him explicitly that I was here?", Marinette asks.
Chloé's eyebrows raise slightly. "Well, yes, I told Jean to have them ready by the time you woke up."
"Oh boy.", Marinette whispers to herself, she shifts again, this time shifting to get out of the bed. "Um, can I use your shower?"
Chloé pulls away to give Marinette space, she feels warmth dashing her cheeks at the sight of Marinette slipping out of her bed with nothing on. She wasn't used to the sight just yet. "U-Um of course. But...is everything okay?"
Marinette sucks in a deep breath, turning her body to face Chloé, "Um, yeah, just…", she pauses for a moment she knew Chloé was probably going to get mad at her, "well...truth is, I've only seen Fu and yourself, no one else, since what happened.", she admits.
It takes Chloé a moment to process the information an she when she realizes what it means, she feels her chest tighten, she understands now, the look Jean gave her.
"Marinette!", Chloé snapped slightly, eyes wide with shock, her expression appeared pained.
"I can explain-", Marinette begins but doesn't get the chance to finish, she lifts her hands up in front of her and shuts up when Chloé's points a finger at her.
"Your parents, Marinette, your parents think you're dead, everyone thinks you're dead.", Chloé says, wincing by the last bit.
Sure, their group knew Marinette was alive, but they were all told to keep the information to themselves until Marinette returned home.
But Marinette skipped going home, which meant Marinette's parents were still grieving. That fact alone hurt her, hurt her because Marinette's parents didn't deserve to suffer like this.
"Marinette!", she yells again.
Marinette sucks in a breath and exhales through her mouth, "you're mad, I know, just, hear me out."
Chloé crossed her arms over her chest. Eyes narrowing.
"It won't sound right, no matter how I put it, I know I messed up, I know. But just...try to understand why I did what I did, please.", Marinette began.
Chloé's lips pulled into a frown, she crossed her arms over her chest. She said nothing more.
"I've been in a weird place, that much you've known, I was in constant denial, I was angry and mad, when all I wanted to do was just...do something I wanted to do.", Marinette continued, dropping her hands to her sides. "I...put everything and everyone before myself, I was never happy, the only time I experienced happiness was when...when you told me you loved me.", Marinette sighed deeply again, her gaze dropped down. "And I wanted to say it back so badly, but I just couldn't, like...there was just something stopping me then and then stopping me after, right up until I got hit with my own cataclysm. I wanted so badly to just be able to be with you."
Chloé's expression began to soften. She felt her anger quickly leaving her.
"It was one thing after another, things getting in the way and then…", Marinette paused, she pressed her lips into a tight line, she swallowed thickly, she lifted her gaze after a moment, meeting Chloé's curious but also encouraging gaze. "Then I found myself somewhere between dead and not really dead, regretting. Regretting not telling you that I loved you too, regretting how I treated you.", Marinette feels a heavy weight lifting from her shoulders. "It's selfish, believe me I know, but my parents...my parents can wait, they know I love them, I told them, I never acted out on them, my regrets weren't with them, they were with you because I failed you so many times in the span of time that you and me became friends and if I could spend my last day or spend my last breath on anyone saying anything, I would like it to be with you."
Chloé's eyes widened, tears gathering and shimmering, lips slightly parted.
"I made a choice and I don't regret it, I'm not ashamed, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.", Marinette huffs slightly, her voice not shaking and her gaze becomes sincere and determined.
Life, while it is the longest thing everyone will ever experience, it is also the shortest when it comes to chasing after what you want, not everyone can do it, manage it or say it.
Marinette will strive to be happy. She's young, she knows, but there was just something about this, about being with Chloé that made her so sure of everything now.
"Marinette." Cheeks warm up again, tears escape sapphire eyes. "I...God, I want to be with you and I get it, I do, just...promise me that today we'll go see your parents, promise me.", the blonde sighed softly.
Marinette nods, "I promise, we can go later."
Chloé nods her head, agreeing. "Okay.", she breathes, reaching a hand out.
Marinette meets her half way, she smiles again.
"You have me Marinette, I'll be with you, through thick and thin. I promise.", Chloé's speaks sincerely, with great love in her voice.
"I promise to be with you through thick and thin as well. I'll do my best by you.", Marinette replies just as sincere.
Their words are not ordinary words, they're promises, promises to and for each other. They would persevere and get over any hurdles that awaited.
It was their promise.
Hope this was an interesting read.
Also I wanted to bring something up. Guest/Anon reviews will now be moderated due to the hate and harassment that pops up every time I update this fic.
but yeah...see you guys next update I'm working on getting this fic caught up with the one i have up on ao3.