Summary:
They're stronger than ever, They're determined to overcome whatever comes their way.
Chapter: Begin Again
They enjoy the perks of being in an intimate relationship, neither can help the want they have for the other.
Much to Plagg's dismay.
It's cute at first, but it quickly gets annoying to the tiny god of destruction.
For Tikki on the other hand, she loves it, adores the two humans and the powerful bond they share.
It feels like a new beginning, a fresh start.
Marinette and Chloé's romantic relationship shocks both of their families, however, Marinette's family had taken it a little...harder, they didn't mind much about Marinette having a preference beside boys, what made them resist rather, was the fact that it was Chloé. Sabine strongly disapproved the most, she was upset, she had voiced it before the teens as soon as Marinette announced that they were together. It was hard, she had to swallow her retorts after her mother said the things she said about Chloé, she managed to have a conversation with her parents regarding the miraculous and how she was 'No longer associated with them'. Her parents weren't happy. They suspected she was still hiding something from them, and it made her nervous, because she was, after all, still Ladybug.
It was the beginning of a new struggle, Marinette and her mother were and still aren't on the same page regarding the heiress. Her father was awkward, but he was more neutral about it, he tried, tried to appear like he wasn't uncomfortable whenever Chloé came over to simply hangout. It was and still is a hard pill to swallow, so much so that Marinette begins to walk down a new path, she pulls away from her parents, Chloé stops coming over and instead, Marinette goes to Chloé's place and stays there occasionally, which then quickly evolves, Marinette usually stayed with Chloé a day or two a week, but then it turned to three, then four and before anyone knew it, Marinette was spending weeks at a time with the heiress, going as far as to have plenty of clothing at Chloé's place.
A lot has changed in the months following Marinette's and Chloé's 'retirement' from their hero roles.
Besides Marinette's and Chloé's romantic status, school was probably the biggest change. It finally came , sweeping in from nowhere, justice. Oh how sweet it would have been back then, to see it go down, to see Lila's tower of lies crumble and her peers receive their punishments. Alya had snapped, dishing out everything on her blog, she tagged a lot of people, even Jagged Stone, she had gotten everyone's attention and spilled, even spilling about the part she played in the destruction of Marinette Dupain-Cheng's school life.
It was horrifying for many, so horrifying that the school launched an investigation into the allegations against Lila and Marinette's peers, as well as the neglect on their teacher's part.
It was a mess really, a mess that Marinette was the center of, she had enough people looking at her due to her role as Noir, but that whole can of worms that Alya popped open...it was certainly something else. Marinette was smothered by people the first week everything happened, her being outed as Noir and being alive after nearly dying, Alya's whole confession slash exposing Lila video, it had been the most draining week of her life, but thankfully, Chloé had been beside her throughout it all.
It was certainly a day, written statements from everyone in the class were all sent to the district school board's office.
The punishments were dished out immediately. Lila was ultimately expelled, her absences caught up with her, which led to more problems for her, problems that would follow her around, problems her mother would have to deal with.
Alya was nearly expelled herself for admitting to bullying Marinette, but the school board took pity on her and simply went with suspension, they cited the fact that Alya showed remorse and came forward as the only reason they took it easy on her.
Everyone else simply got dirty looks from the rest of the students in the school. They would be on the bad end of the stick now.
"Dad?", Marinette answered her phone, she was laying on her back, facing the ceiling of the spacious bedroom, she shifted slightly, only to let Chloé cuddle further into her side.
"Hey, Marinette, um...we were wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight…", Her father speaks softly and cautiously into the phone, "...uh, your Nonna's in town again.", he says.
Marinette tenses slightly.
Chloé's hand gently slides under Marinette's shirt, it slides over the toned tummy, she begins to rub the taught abs, wanting to comfort Marinette.
Marinette sighs, "Uh...I uh, I'm-", she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay with her girlfriend, but unfortunately Chloé had other ideas, she flinched when she felt Chloé pinch the skin of her stomach.
"Go.", Chloé whispers.
"What- no-", Marinette whispers, pulling the phone away from her face, she looks down to her chest and finds Chloé already looking at her.
"You barely see your parents-", Chloé says, her voice no longer hushed.
Marinette clicks her tongue, "That's their own fault.", Marinette retorts.
Chloé's expression falls slightly. "Mari-", she begins to but is once again cut off.
Marinette brings the phone to her ear again and speaks, "I can't.", she says into the phone and without waiting for a response from her father, she hangs up.
Chloé shifts, getting off of Marinette, her lips parted in disbelief, she sits up, "Marinette!", she scolds her angry lover.
"What?", Marinette turns away from Chloé, she glared at the sliding glass doors, hoping that Tikki and Plagg would fly in and warn them of an akuma attack.
Chloé scoffs, "They miss you, Marinette, they constantly reach out to you-"
"Drop it Chloé, just...please, let's not fight…", Marinette screws her eyes shut, she swallows thickly and in a beat, her anger begins to slowly disappear, "My parents want us to separate, Chloé. They won't let the past go and they just...act so uncomfortable around me whenever I'm there...I don't...I don't want to go back.", eyes open, Marinette's face remains turned away from Chloé.
Chloé falls silent, she falls into thought, Marinette's parents hated her, even more so after Marinette nearly lost her life. Sabine made it clear that she wasn't welcomed into their home, that she was unwilling to give them her blessing. Tom, was awkward, but a little more tolerant.
People change, opinions change, Chloé believed that there was still a chance to win Marinette's parents over, it would just take time.
"Your parents asked me if I wanted my own room.", Marinette speaks up again.
Chloé's eyes widened, her thoughts are broken and her attention falls back onto Marinette. "What?"
Marinette sighed deeply, "Your parents know that mine weren't exactly...open minded to you. They kinda implied that I should live here too."
Chloé feels her heart drop, her chest tighten, she felt guilt coming, guilt because she felt like she was tearing Marinette's family apart.
"Baby, look at me.", Chloé begins, her voice softened.
Marinette sighs again and turns her head on the pillow, she meets Chloé's worried gaze, "What?", she breathes.
Chloé's eyes widen for a moment, her heart jumps in her chest when Marinette's gaze meets hers. Silver. Chloé's lips part slightly, her eyebrows furrow as she takes in the sight of those beautiful yet lifeless eyes.
"What?", Marinette speaks up again, she blinks.
And it's gone.
Chloé presses her lips together as blue eyes now stared at her with confusion. Was she seeing things? Was it real? Chloé sighs softly and collects her thoughts, "N-Nothing, just…", she pauses, she leans down slightly, reaching out and placing her hand over Marinette's sternum, "Your parents will come around, this will take time, you and me have spent practically our whole childhood fighting and they know that. They love you, Marinette."
Their eyes remained locked.
Marinette groaned slightly and turned away from Chloé again. "It's been months, Chloé."
"Yes it has, but it's been months of you not being home for more than a day or two at a time, months of you barely speaking to your parents.", Chloé sighed, she leaned closer, gently dropping her body to lay beside Marinette, she placed her head on the girl's chest. "They haven't gotten used to us, they're only getting used to the fact that you're pulling away because of me."
Marinette huffs a breath out, "So, what you're saying is, I should go back home."
"I love you, Marinette and your parents love you too. I know you want your parents to just...love us, but it isn't that simple, I'm not innocent in all of this, I was cruel, mean and just...childish, I knew I couldn't just be with you and expect your parents to just accept me after everything I've done to you. I expected this.", Chloé gently drew invisible circles over Marinette's sternum. "Your parents will come around, eventually."
Marinette wrapped an arm around Chloé, she held her against her side, turning her head, she stared at the ceiling. She understood what Chloé was getting at. She'd been so angry and upset by her parents, her mother especially was very clear in where she stood on the matter of her relationship with Chloé and it hurt. Sure, Chloé wasn't entirely innocent, she made mistakes, but people change. No doubt her parents resented Chloé even more now, Marinette groaned and rose a hand from her side, she brought it to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose, a part of her now realizing that she was a part of the reason why her parent's perception of Chloé wasn't getting any better.
"Ok.", Marinette releases a breath, "Alright, I'll go over to my parent's."
Chloé nods her head, "Okay, Baby, do you want me to drop you off?"
"Yeah.", Marinette sighs in defeat.
Chloé smiles sympathetically. She knows Marinette would rather stay with her and as much as she wants Marinette to stay, she knows Marinette's parents must miss her.
It's only right that Marinette return to her parents.
It's boring to say the least, clearly she had gotten used to Marinette's presence. But she refused to let Marinette know that, Marinette was with her family, she needed to be with them, spend time with them. She'll get used to it again, the slight emptiness.
Chloé sighs deeply, she walks to her sofa and plops down, she reaches for the TV remote laying on the coffee table just a foot and a half away from her and just as she grabs it, a knock comes at her door.
The heiress raises an eyebrow sharply, wondering who it was, slightly nervous it was either one of her parents. She stands up, remote still in hand and she eats to the door, not exactly caring she wasn't fully clothes, an oversized shirt and black panties covered her body. She walked to the door and reached out, taking the knob and turning it, she opened. "Adrien?", Chloé speaks with surprise coating her tone at finding her childhood friend standing before her.
"Hey, can we talk?", Adrien says, a stoney expression resting upon his face.
"Uh, sure, come in, grumpy.", Chloé steps back and moves to the side to allow the boy in.
Adrien sighs softly and shuts the door behind him, his eyes scanning the room. Perhaps searching for another presence.
"What's up?", Chloé asks, her eyebrow arching questioningly as she turned around and began to walk back to the couch that was facing her TV.
Adrien sighed once more, he began to step, following the heiress further into the room. Eyes immediately finding a bra hanging on the edge of Chloé's bed, his eyebrow raising.
Chloé turned and saw Adrien looking at something, she followed his gaze and blushed slightly as she saw one of Marinette's bras clinging to her duvet, she awkwardly chuckled and quickly walked over to the bed, she grabbed the intimate item and quickly shoved it onto a drawer, cheeks burning slightly. "Oops, sorry.", Chloé turned to give Adrien an awkward smile.
Adrien shrugged his shoulders, feeling a bit of envy crawling in. "Must be nice.", he comments a bit dryly as he makes it to a couch and plops down.
Chloé raises an eyebrow rather questioningly. "What?", she says.
"Being with her, your black cat.", Adrien says, his facial expression shifting slightly, his body stiff and his posture straight.
"Well, yeah…", Chloé releases another awkward chuckle. "She's amazing.", she sighs softly as she makes her way to the couch across from the boy, she plops down and immediately sits back into the soft cushions.
A moment of silence sets in before Adrien nods his head, "It's strange don't you think?", he says suddenly, "I mean, before, you two were out to get each other, than suddenly you both get wrapped up in the whole miraculous business and suddenly...start dating.", he shifts, arms crossing over his chest as his eyes now become fixated on Chloé, almost scrutinizing her.
Chloé frowns slightly, sensing something she doesn't normally sense from him, hostility, unsure of what exactly he was getting at here. "Uh, um what are you doing here again?", she tries not to snap back, tries not to become too defensive. She sits up now, all her attention on the boy.
Adrien sighs and shrugs his shoulders slightly, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to come off like a jerk but think about it. You get the earrings and she gets the ring and suddenly you're both just...happy together?-"
"Stop right there.", Chloé says, her hand now up with a finger wagging in the air, "why are you here?", she asks again, she felt something in the pit of her stomach beginning to twist, her eyes narrowing.
"How did you two get mixed up with the miraculous?", Adrien asks bluntly, not exactly seeing a point to being vague.
"We just did, you know. Shit happens.", Chloé says with a pointed look.
Adrien huffs softly, his eyes suddenly break off the blonde before him, Chloé was being resistant, and he knows that's his own fault, maybe he came off too harsh after all? "Look.", he lifts a hand up, eyes returning to Chloé's own. "I just...I'm sorry again, I'm just a little...confused, I mean, Ladybug gave you her earrings and Marinette the black cat ring. She's never given her earrings up, it was a huge risk.", he shrugs his shoulders.
Chloé keeps her gaze narrowed at Adrien, something was off, she could feel it, see it, in his stiff posture and stoney expression. "What's it to you?", she snaps now, barely restraining her attitude.
"I trust you Chloé, we go way back, we grew up together, I was there when your mom left and you were there when my mom disappeared.", Adrien loosens up a bit, releasing a heavy breath, his eyes flicker away from Chloé's suspicious gaze, to his knees. "We've always been there for one another.", continued.
Chloé shifts in place, eyes focused on Adriens form.
"This is going to sound weird, Chloé. But bare with me.", Adrien says, eyes flickering back to Chloé's own, he sits up straight and looks at her expectantly, sharp emerald pouring into soft sapphire.
Chloé feels uncomfortable suddenly, exposed even, she feels regret for not being properly dressed. "What?", she says, trying to keep calm.
Adrien sighs and finally says it.
Something that turns Chloé's perfect world, upside down.
"Chloé, I was Chat Noir."
Marinette sighs, she was washing the dishes, not wanting to be rude and just leave the dishes unwashed. She was still rather on edge, only relaxing whenever her Nonna approached her or spoke to her. She however, did remain stiff around her parents.
"Marinetta, sweetie, leave those there for tomorrow, right now, I want to go out for a walk.", Gina says, voice soft, she approaches the teen from behind and places her hands over her shoulders.
Marinette hummed, turning her head, "Oh uh, but-"
"Tomorrow, my little Marinetta, I want to spend time with you.", Gina says, her gaze soft and warm.
Marinette sighs softly and nods, she shuts the waters off and shakes the water off the last dish she washed. "Okay.", she gives in to her grandmother's wish.
The two soon leave the kitchen, with Marinette drying her hands with a napkin, she tosses it into the trash bin on her way out of the home, her grandmother telling her mother and father that they were going for a walk around the neighborhood.
It takes them about five minutes to finally make it outside and almost immediately as soon as their feet touch the cement sidewalk, her grandmother speaks.
"So, Marinetta, how have you been? I was told that you...uh, have a special someone.", Gina begins to speak as she walk beside her granddaughter.
"Uh...they uh, told you huh? Everything.", Marinette gets to the point. "I...I don't regret keeping the secrets I kept from them and I won't let my parents separate me and Chloé."
Gina sighs deeply, "I'm not here to scold you or anything, little Mari, I understand, I do. It...it was just hard and scary to see what happened to you, your parents love you, I love you. We were just scared.", she explains, she wasn't here to give Marinette flack, no, she just wanted Marinette to be less reckless, wanted her to be honest. "What if you had gotten killed on another occasion where no one saw anything? How would we have known what happened to you? "
Marinette grunted and turned away from her grandmother, her eyes narrowed as she saw her reflection staring back at her through the glass windows of the businesses they walked past.
Silver, piercing and cold.
She blinks and icy sapphire appears.
"You know what they say about cats, nine lives and all.", she simply replied, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets, she felt Tikki cuddling up against her hand.
Gina sighed once again, reminding herself that Marinette was still young and in her prime, which meant the belief of Invincibility was still lurking in the back of her mind, she knew the feeling herself, she was young once and too and believed nothing bad would ever happen to her. She gets it.
"Well, if you want to talk about cats now, I believe another saying is that cats always land on their feet, no?", Gina counters Marinette. Grimacing slightly at the reminder of the latest incident that involved Marinette not landing on her feet.
Marinette chuckled, forced and bitterly. "Cats are curious creatures, the nine lives are there to allow them the chances to explore, sometimes you just don't hit the mark and well...there goes a life.", she shrugs.
Gina narrows her eyes, facing ahead, she eyed the tall building ahead of them. "So….you never planned to tell your mama and papa about it...about you being that superhero.", she comes to a painful conclusion, "why don't you trust them?", she asks, she knew her son and his wife were great parents, she saw them, how openly they spoke to each other, there weren't secrets between them and Marinette never hid anything. Something changed Marinette changed.
Marinette suddenly stopped in her steps.
Gina stopped too, she turned to her granddaughter and immediately finds her gaze meeting Marinette's own, she felt something in her stomach twist, felt her heart ache. A chill ran up her spine and goosebumps suddenly littered her arms. She was met with harsh, cold and detached sapphire eyes.
"I was trying to protect my family. If my parents knew what I did, you think they would have allowed me to continue doing it?", Marinette speaks, voice oddly monotone. "No. They would have stopped me, gotten In my way. The less they knew then, the better. This isn't the first time I've hid something like this from them and I can promise you now, it will not be the last.", Marinette's gaze is piercing, so piercing in fact, it forces Gina to look away. "You have no idea what I've been through, none of you do and I prefer you and my parents stop whatever this is.", Marinette says referring to Gina's sudden invitation to go out for a walk.
The air between them is thick, thicker than it's ever been. Gina feels her chest tighten, the Marinette looking back at her, wasn't her little Marinetta anymore, she was different.
"I understand, Marinetta.", Gina manages to say, defeat heavy in her tone, trying to de-escalate the situation.
Marinette feels guilty, of course she does, but if she didn't draw a line here, than everyone would be getting in her business and she couldn't afford that right now. She had enough on her plate. "Anyways, it's getting late, I think I'm going to head over to my girlfriend's place for the night.", Marinette frowns slightly, she knew Chloé was going to give her shit about coming back, but she just couldn't stay with her parents tonight.
Gina gasps slightly, "No, please Marinetta, stay.", she breathes out, her gaze saddens.
Marinette took a step away from her grandmother, "I-"
"I'm sorry if I made you feel angry, but please don't take it out on them, they didn't put me up to this, I just...I wanted to know what was going through your mind then, why you kept such a big secret to yourself.", Gina looked down, head hanging and shoulders caving.
Something inside of Marinette snaps, clicking into place and she feels a rush of emotions come over her. "I...Nonna, I'm sorry.", she apologizes, guilt ebbing at her immediately as she sees her grandmother in a way she's never seen. "I just...I love you guys, I...I wanted to make our home a safer place, I wanted to stop Hawkmoth, I wanted to free us from his grip of emotional manipulation. I…", Marinette pauses, feeling her own heart beginning to ache, feeling a familiar prickling in her eyes.
Gina looks up, she sees her granddaughter again, sees a familiar light shining in those beautiful sapphire eyes.
"...just wanted this place to feel like home again."