Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Chapter 11,
Adrien wanted to sprint to Marinette's place to apologize, but he needed to be at Chloe's fashion thing. After all, he was ordered to go. When Adrien and his bodyguard walked into the hotel, the first thing the young hero noticed was how many of his classmates were there. Adrien was confused by this and thought maybe he had gone to the wrong location.
"Adri-kins!" Chloe rushed over and hugged him. The odd thing is that this hug was uncharacteristally gentle and sweet.
"Are you ok?" Adrien asked, wondering if maybe she was sick or sad.
"Oh, I'm fine, thank you." Chloe pulled away and gestures to the class.
"What do you think?" Chloe asked and Adrien hesitated a moment.
"You asked them to be here?" Adrien asked, and Chloe nodded.
"I realized that you were right earlier." Chloe said and Adrien couldn't hide his surprise.
"I don't know about that. I was kind of a jerk to you, and I'm sorry about that." Adrien said and Chloe lowered her gaze.
"I guess we were both jerks. It wasn't fair of me to ask you to do this show as the only male model. I was being childish, and I decided to ask our class to do the show with us." Chloe said and Adrien slowly smiled.
"Wow. That's really cool of you Chloe." Adrien said and Chloe giggled.
"Of course I called dibs on all the best outfits. The recycled products can be worn by Rose, Marinette, Juleka, or one of the others." Chloe said and Adrien blinked. Was Marinette really here?
"Now, daddy reserved rooms on the second floor for everyone to change in. That way, we can have some sort of privacy. Let me just go get your room key, and then you could change." Chloe said, and Adrien was surprised that Chloe did this herself instead of making Sabrina do it for her.
"Hello again, Adrien." Adrien turned and he saw Luka walking over to him.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Adrien asked.
"I'm here with Juleka. She can be pretty shy, and I thought she could use the moral support." Luka said. The two sat down and Luka pulled out his guitar and started strumming it softly.
"You know, you saved Paris with your music." Adrien said and Luka smiled.
"My music was a forgettable detail. The real hero today was Cat Noir." Luka said.
"Well, I'm sure that he couldn't have saved the day without you." Adrien said and Luka shrugged.
"Perhaps." Luka said, and Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.
"Something troubling you?" Luka saw the concern in Adrien's heart, and needed to ask.
"It's just... I kinda hurt a friend earlier, and I need to apologize to her, but I'm still nervous about it." Adrien admitted.
"Trust in yourself Adrien. I'm sure you'll know what to say when the moment is right." Luka said and Adrien smiled at him.
"I hope you're right. Thanks Luka." Adrien said.
"Alright Adrien, I found the key for your room and- uh... who are you?" Chloe said when she first noticed Luka, handing the key to Adrien.
"Oh, you haven't met Luka, Chloe? This is Juleka's brother Luka. Luka this is my oldest friend, Chloe." Adrien introduced and Luka smiled at Chloe, who smiled which confused Adrien.
"Uh, well, it's a pleasure to meet you Luka. It's always fascinating to me when I meet someone who doesn't know me." Chloe said, walking over and holding her hand out to the mature boy.
"Of course I know you, Chloe. Juleka will often times tell us about her school adventures." Luka said, right before he took Chloe's hand and kissed the top of it sweetly.
"I, uh, I don't recall having a room for you, Luka. I can easily get you on that runway. Then your face will be in the best magazines money can buy." Chloe said, crossing her arms over her chest to give her a more dignified look.
"I don't need that." Luka said and Chloe blinked.
"That's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Everyone wants to be famous and remembered forever." Chloe said and Luka shrugged.
"If I were to become famous, I would hope that it would be for the things I put my heart into; instead of what I put my face on." Luka said and Chloe found herself dumbfounded. She just didn't know how to respond to this character. Fame and popularity was everything to a person... wasn't it?
"Alright. Maybe you can help model Jagged's line of hoodies. Some of them zip all the way up the face. Once it's closed, it has a picture of Jagged. Each version is from different album covers." Chloe said, holding the clipboard to her chest. Adrien's eyes moved from Chloe to Luka and back to Chloe. He had never seen Chloe like this. Was she sick? It was almost like she were acting like... like... who did Adrien know that acted that way? Hesitant, a bit shy, yet pretending like everything was super great.
"Alright, Chloe, that sounds fun. I suppose it wouldn't be to bad for my first modeling gig, huh, Adrien?" Luka said. Chloe blushed a little and stared at the clipboard in her hands. For a brief moment, she kinda forgot that Adrien was sitting right there. Adrien wasn't exactly sure what was happening with Chloe. It almost looked like she was falling in love with Luka. But Chloe wasn't the type of girl to fall in love at first sight... was she?
"Uh, yeah... does... sound fun." Adrien said, eyeing Chloe with slight concern.
"So fun. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. Adrien I was wondering how you met Luka." Chloe asked and Adrien smiled. Chloe was in love with Luka. Otherwise she wouldn't ask for personal details, especially during an event she cared so much about. It was cute to finally see her falling for someone. But did Luka feel the same?
"Well, during that music festival. I went over to Juleka's houseboat to listen to the band over friends created. Luka is in the band." Adrien said and Chloe scoffed.
"A houseboat? Are you kidding me?" Chloe said automatically and Adrien looked over at Luka, who looked hurt.
"Uh... because I always wanted to see one of those." Chloe said hesitantly and Luka smiled softly.
"You know it's almost humorous." Luka said which confused Adrien and Chloe.
"What is?" Chloe asked and Luka straightened his guitar.
"I hear two songs playing in you." Luka said, and he started strumming, which caused Chloe to sit next to Luka.
"The first one is a fast paced power cord." Luka said, and he played a quick portion of the song.
"The second one is a slow, heartwarming, Barre chord." Luka played this one and Chloe felt weird, but in a nice way.
"Both are well developed pieces of music. But they aren't really working together; they seem to be fighting for dominance. Together they make a highly intriguing Arpeggio, though it may not be the most harmonious way to live." Luka said and even though Adrien didn't really understand this music Luka was talking about, it looked as if Chloe knew exactly what Luka meant. Adrien wondered if this had anything to do with what Chloe had felt earlier. She couldn't hold back her tears when Masquerade showed her that picture.
"No, I uh... suppose it's not harmonious." Chloe admittedly softly.
"Don't feel ashamed Chloe. No matter what you feel, your emotions are what make you who you are." Luka said and Chloe looked down.
"Uh-huh." She muttered.
"Besides, if you didn't already know, your inner song is pretty hypnotizing." Luka said. Chloe blinked and looked back at Luka.
"Hypnotizing?" Chloe asked. Neither had noticed Adrien slowly backing out of the picture. If Chloereally was falling in love, then he certainly didn't want to ruin it by being too close.
"Yes. You seem like a pretty cool chick, Chloe. Would you like to play my guitar?" Luka asked and Chloe giggled to hide her nervous energy.
"Thanks, but I wouldn't even know where to begin. I don't know how to play the guitar, or any other musical instruments for that matter." Chloe said and Luka smiled.
"Well, if you were ever interested in learning how to play, I would be honored to be your teacher." Luka said. That's the last thing Adrien heard. Well, that's not true. He did hear the two of them laughing and that just warmed his heart. Adrien had his room key in hand and he knew that he needed to go up and put on his first outfit. But he wasn't sure when he had to go on, so he thought it would be best to find Sabrina first. After some asking around , he found Sabrina right next to the stage. The place was packed.
"Alright, Nino, start the music and the automatic introduction. Max get ready to read the cards as the models walk down the runway." Sabrina said into her headset. Though it was dark, Adrien recognized her voice and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Oh! Chloe, you'll be happy to know that things are running smoothly." Sabrina said.
"I'm Adrien, not Chloe." Adrien whispered and Sabrina chuckled nervously.
"Sorry, Adrien, it's dark. I'm expecting Chloe and I saw the blond hair." Sabrina explained.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I just got my room key and wanted to know if my clothes were in the room and when I was on." Adrien said. Being a less professional event, he wasn't sure how this show would be different.
"You're clothes are in the room already. You should really get your first outfit on. Chloe thought it would be fun to start off the Miraculous inspired outfits. And you get to wear the Ladybug inspired suit." Sabrina said and Adrien blinked.
"Miraculous inspired, huh?" Adrien asked.
"Yeah, and the suit is fantastic. Oh, the lights are out, come see the first formal dress." Sabrina encouraged, and Adrien couldn't say no.
"We've decided to take the beginning portion of this show and dedicate it to those brave souls that save Paris." Max said and out came a model. It was hard to see her face until the spotlight turned on. Adrien took a deep breath when he saw that this model was Marinette.
"This is a Cat Noir inspired floor-length formal." Max said as Marinette walked down the catwalk. Adrien could hardly focus on the words Max said. Marinette was wearing a black dress, with a sweetheart neckline and ruffles in the skirt. But it had some rough diagonal lines on the dress, which were lime green and signified a large cat scratch. She also had a yellow sash on her stomach, which symbolized the bell on the Cat Noir costume. Then Marinette reached behind her and pulled out some metal stick, which resembled his own. Marinette extended the stick, and walked with it as if it were a cane. Then she pushed a button and the top of the cane produced a metal mask and she held the metal creation up to her face for a moment before putting it away again. When Marinette was at the end of the catwalk, Adrien thought he heard Max say the word 'cataclysm', and Marinette held her gloves together and a colored smoke then appeared in her hands. Adrien thought she was just, drop dead gorgeous, but there was one detail that Adrien focused on more then anything else. Which was that Marinette didn't smile once. He knew lots of models would keep a professional or bored expression during a show, but that wasn't Marinette. It wasn't like his lady at all.
"Ok, ok, you better run along now, and get back here pronto." Sabrina said, gently pushing Adrien away from the curtain. And as much as Adrien wanted to object and insist that he stay so he could talk to Marinette, he knew this business all to well.
In no time Adrien was up in his room, changing into the Ladybug suit sadly. Plagg was watching Adrien, but he didn't know what to say. Tikki and Master Fu were always better at cheering someone up, where as Plagg felt like he just ruined everything. He always blamed it on the power of destruction he wields. The ability to destroy physical objects and, he figured, everything else that wasn't physical. Adrien is a sweet kid, but after one conversation with Plagg, he blew his temper. If Plagg wasn't so good at destroying things like hope, then maybe Adrien wouldn't be so sad now. But soon Plagg heard some talking, and he pressed up against the wall to hear better.
"What are you doing?" Adrien asked, when he noticed the Kwami move.
"Shh." Plagg hushed as he listened. After a moment, the Kwami disappeared through the wall.
"Plagg, come back, what if they see you?" Adrien said and the Kwami quickly returned with a large smile on his face.
"Marinette's in the next room, and Alyssa is about to leave. This is your chance to apologize." Plagg said and Adrien gasped. He walked out of the room, all decked out in his suit, and took a deep breath when he saw Alya walking out the door. He rushed over before the door closed and peeked inside. Marinette was sitting at a vanity, with her head down on the wood she was still wearing that beautiful dress, so she hasn't been in the room long. Adrien's hands were shaking, but it was now or never. He opened the door and knocked. Marinette lifted her head, and saw Adrien in the mirror. She turned around and they locked eyes. They stood in silence for about 5 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. After this quick eternity, Marinette looked down in sadness, and it broke Adrien's heart. He slowly walked over to her. What was he gonna say? What was he gonna do? How was she gonna react.
"You're as beautiful as I am stupid." Adrien said, and then he blushed at his own words. That was hardly an apology. But it did take Marinette by surprise and she stared at him with those same blue bell eyes he would stare at whenever he saw a picture of Ladybug. How has he never noticed Marinette had those one of a kind eyes?
"Oh, Marinette, I don't blame you not talking to me. I was a real heart to you earlier." Adrien said and he walked over to Marinette.
"I know it will never, ever be enough, but I want you to know that I'm really sorry for the way I acted." Adrien said, and though it wasn't good for the suit, he got down on his knees and Marinette blushed at this submissive act.
"Your friendship means the world to me, Marinette. It would break my heart if I were to lose you." Adrien said, and Marinette blushed deeper. She didn't know what to say, so she just said nothing.
"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, or your friendship. And..." Adrien hesitated, he didn't want to say this next part. But he pulled something out of his pocket, and held it close to his heart.
"And that's how I know that I don't deserve this." Adrien said, and he held out the lucky charm Marinette gave him. The same lucky charm he carried everywhere, even into battle. He had grown quite attached to this strand of beads, but it did make him feel lucky.
"Oh, Adrien..." Marinette whispered. Adrien gently took her gloves hand and put the charm in it.
"No, Marinette. You're literally the greatest person I've ever known. And until I'm worthy of your friendship, you should hold on to this. Hopefully, one day, I will earn it back." Adrien said and Marinette stared at the charm.
"Well, I'm glad you allowed me to say my peace. I really should get down to the runway before Sabrina has a fit." Adrien said. He stood up and he sadly walked out the door.
"I think that was a good apology." Plagg said and Adrien looked down at the Kwami in his jacket.
"Then why do I still feel like a jerk?" Adrien asked and Plagg sighed.