I know I shouldn't be putting "bonus" chapters in the titles to avoid confusion, but I thought I'd put them there so that my readers don't expect them to be longer like the original chapters. They still fall into the story plot chronologically. I hope that's okay.

If you guys just prefer that I dont put "bonus" on them, let me know. But usually bonus chapters will be uploaded quickly because I wont make you guys wait for chapters this short.

Thanks.


Marinette gasped for air the moment she submerged from the surface of the pool water.

She had recalled many months ago that Adrien wanted to go swimming in the moonlight. They had only realised the day before that they were each other's lights.

Marinette blushed as she swam to the ledge of the pool, resting her arms against the warm pavement with a small smile.

She kicked her feet behind her, her ladybug bikini clinging to her body from the water.

She bit her lip, wondering if Adrien ever recalled that he once said he wanted to be in the pool with Kagami, and yet here he was doing everything he wanted to with Kagami with her instead.

Marinette certainly had no complaints, that was for sure. She didn't mind doing anything with Adrien, all that mattered was that she was with him.

Adrien sat on the ledge of the pool from the other side. His feet swayed in the pool casually. He leaned onto his hands, his eyes glancing at his reflection inside of the pool.

Marinette hoisted herself out of the pool, her skin glistening from the moisture. She sat on the other side of the pool, glancing up at Adrien who seemed as though he was lost in thought.

"Got too much on your mind?" Marinette asked, keeping her feet in the pool as she attempted to grab his attention from the other side.

Adrien moved his eyes from the water and glanced over at Marinette who smiled at him sweetly. He was taken by the cute color in her lips, and he adored the way her eyes nearly matched the water. The ladybug bikini was his absolute favorite on her, she filled it out in all the right places. Ladybug spots looked great on her.

"You make me want you," Adrien replied, a small smile tugging his lips. Adrien felt his heart squeeze in his chest and he nonchalantly began to move his feet against the waves of the pool water.

Marinette giggled, biting her lip as she too began to move her feet in the water.

"Well, I'm right here," She replied in a sultry tantalizing voice. "Why don't you come get me?"

Adrien chortled, his heart taken by the way she had spoken to him. He lifted himself, slowly submerging himself back into the pool water.

"Bold words for such a little bug," Adrien murmured, wading through the water to make his way across the pool so that he could reach her. "I wonder what brought on all this confidence?"

Adrien approached her, placing his hands on her hips.

Marinette laughed softly, reaching over to carefully wrapped her arms around him. A small gasp emitted from her lips as she scooted closer to him. She wrapped her legs around his hips, and held onto him as Adrien swathed his arms around her and brought her into the pool.

Her arms hung off his shoulders, and Marinette was vividly aware of his warm, wet skin pressed flush against hers.

She closed her eyes, resting her head onto his with a subtle blush. Her lips lightly brushed against his, and the young woman hummed as she pulled back.

"So, are you going to tell me what you were thinking about? You really seemed like you were lost in thought back there." She reached up, moving some hair away from his face. "You know you can trust me."

Adrien leaned down and captured her lips briefly, his hands held on to her tightly and he subtly pulled away with a deep sigh.

"I'm not sure, I guess I kept thinking about how you'd feel about doing things with me. I know every thing, if not most things, we did together I was supposed to do with Kagami. I was worried that you'd think I was trying to put you in her place..." his voice trailed off as Marinette furrowed her brow.

"Don't feel guilty because you ended up doing things with me. I like spending time with you, I don't care about Kagami or Felix anymore. What matters to me is that we are spending time together, we enjoy the time we have together and we have fun." Marinette smiled, her hands lightly playing with his hair.

"Even...for everything else?" Adrien asked, perking a brow. "I mean, I denied us both a lot of satisfaction during our intimacy because I was worried I'd do something to hurt you, when all I've ever learned in that department was from her..." his voice trailed off and the blond wanted to bury his face into her chest.

Marinette reached up, brushing her fingertips against his cheek with a prompt hum.

"I know you expect me to, but it doesn't matter. She was a place you've been, Felix was a place I've been..." Marinette sighed, glancing down briefly before she looked up at him. "Even Luka was a place I've been, but we aren't where we were before."

Adrien felt his chest grow tight, his eyes glancing into hers, as he could still vividly hear the sound of Luka's voice confessing his love to Marinette in the back of his mind.

"You think...that it's normal to eventually stop caring?" Adrien asked. "I mean about the things in the past regarding our mistakes and the people we've been with?"

Marinette shrugged, pursing her lips as she thought about it. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his and closing her eyes.

"I guess forgiving ourselves for the past-and forgiving the people who wronged us is part of growing up. Life becomes miserable when you carry a burden that huge," she sighed, her body sliding against his as Adrien loosened his grip from around her.

She felt the water rise up to her waist and it was only then that Marinette felt her toes touch the pool floor. She kept her arms around him, and with a small smile she glanced up at him.

Adrien drew her body closer to his before she could pull away. He kept his eyes on her, his fingers rubbing circles into her hips with a weary smile.

"I suppose you're right..." Adrien pondered, reaching up to brush his thumb across her cheek. "No more secrets...no more regrets...and no more grudges."

Marinette leaned up on her tippy toes as she rested her hands against his chest. She pressed her lips against his, ending the conversation effectively.


Marinette sighed as she sat on the bed. She threw her hairbrush to the side and she lay down, closing her eyes. She pressed her lips together, the smell of her strawberry shampoo expelled in the space around her.

She had just enjoyed a nice hot shower in the bathroom down the hall, accidentally locking Tikki into the steamy room.

The warm breeze blew through the curtains of the balcony doors and Marinette curiously sat up.

The sound of the shower running in the master bedroom drowned out and Marinette found herself thinking about Adrien.

She was drunk. She remembered that.

Something horrible happened to her that night that Alya had attempted to throw a bachelorette party.

She remembered trying to leap from that balcony. She remembered Adrien holding her on the bed, and she certainly remembered her hands gripped around his neck.

Her heart sank, her belly feeling as if it was turning. She gripped onto the sheets, her chest growing tight at the memory of running into her assailant in the motel when she had called Adrien.

She lowered her eyes, watching as Tikki trotted into the room with a soft purr. The kitten hopped on to the bed, yawning as she kneaded the blankets before settling down into a kitten loaf.

"Are you alright?"

Marinette jumped, her heart nearly leaping out into her throat at the sudden sound of his voice. She quickly glanced back at him, exhaling as she reached up to run her hand through her hair.

Adrien stood behind her, the towel hanging low from his hips.

Marinette kept her eyes on the balcony. She knew well that he had stepped out of the shower, and if he looked at him, she would most certainly be distracted by the lean definition of his stomach and his chest.

"What did I do to you that night?" Marinette asked, her voice quivering. "That night of the bachelorette party..." her voice trailed off as she quickly looked down.

Adrien pressed his lips together, before pulling the towel off to quickly dry himself off. His heart squeezed inside of his chest. He knew very well what she had been talking about.

Despite being completely naked, Adrien wandered to his closet to find something appropriate to wear.

"Why do you want to remember stuff like that?" Adrien asked, stepping into his boxers with a grimace before he reached for a T-shirt. "You were in a bad place. Don't hold it against yourself."

"Did I put my hands on you?" Marinette asked, finally glancing at him as he put his shirt on and tugged it down his body. "D-Did...Did I put my hands on your neck?"

Adrien rolled his shoulders, slowly turning to face her. He offered her a warm smile as he approached the bed. He climbed onto the bed with a soft sigh, plopping in the space beside her.

"If you want a modicum of truth from me, then I'll offer an honest response. I have no intentions to be callous, but you mistook me for Felix. You did have your hands on me, but you were drunk. You had just experienced something horrible from a prick who wanted to take advantage of you. You were still in a noxious headspace when it came to the bitter ending of your relationship with Felix..." Adrien glanced over at her, watching as she hesitantly lay beside him with a subtle blush. "I understand where it came from. What mattered to me was that you were okay, and that Alya, Nino and I had made it on time before anything else happened. I'm also grateful that I had caught you before you did something horrible to yourself."

Marinette turned over, leaning into him with a grimace. She knew that she had just preached to Adrien moments ago about forgiving what they had done in the past, but this one was something she couldn't let up.

Putting her hands on him-whether she was drunk or not- was unforgivable. She reached up to rub her cheeks with a grimace.

"I'm sorry. I realised that I could have killed you, if not, I could have at least done horrible damage to you," Marinette murmured, her voice quivering as she simply just wanted to put her head through a window.

"Don't be silly, Marinette," Adrien chortled, leaning over to wrap his arms around her and draw her close. "You didn't do any damage, and I don't think you had the intent to kill me either. You cried in my arms that night and I held you until you fell asleep. You're sober now, you're in my arms and I'm willing to let it go. In fact, I didn't even recall it happening until you brought it up."

Marinette moved closer to him, closing her eyes as Adrien leaned down to kiss the soft skin on her neck.

She held onto him, her fingers lightly tracing against his deltoid. She could vividly hear her heart pound erratically between her ears and Marinette tried to capture her breath.

The memory of Nick all in itself created such great anxiety, it almost made Marinette want to resort to hiding in her room all over again.

"Adrien..." Marinette whimpered, her voice breaking as she held on to him tighter. "I...I saw him again..."

Adrien furrowed his brow, the sound of her broken voice causing him extraordinary concern. He drew back, glancing down at her.

"Saw who again?" He pressed, quickly grabbing the blanket and pulling it over her as she had begun to visibly tremble in his arms.

She truly felt sick. She hadn't gotten to that point where she could say his name without wanting to throw up.

"T-That guy...w-who assaulted me. He was in the motel that I stumbled into when I was stranded after my interview with Audrey. H-He kept calling out to me, asking me to continue what we were doing before you guys came in."

Adrien clenched his jaw, his heart racing within his chest as he listened to her.

It all made sense. The way she changed on the phone, the way her voice sounded solemn before she quickly hung up the phone.

"I...I told him to fuck off, but the moment I left the motel, he had come to follow me. It was raining, and there were a lot of noises behind me, but I ran." Marinette reached up to rub her eyes. "I didn't realise that you had called someone to pick me up, but I swore he was following me."

Adrien exhaled, his body growing warm as anger flushed through his veins. His fists clenched and Adrien was incredibly tempted to pick up the phone and ring up his father's PI team to find the creep, but he knew that would only put Marinette under enormous stress.

"Why didn't you tell me when you came back?" Adrien asked, unraveling his arms from around her and sitting up. "We saw each other the following day..."

Marinette frowned, suddenly feeling embarrassed about confessing to believing that Nick had been following her that night. She grabbed her pillow, nuzzling her face into it with a grimace.

"Because I was embarrassed about what he tried to do. Nino saw things he shouldn't have seen, you and Alya had to care for me when I got home. I know that it wasn't my fault that he did what he did, but I felt like such a careless piece of garbage. When I ran into him again, I felt that same exact thing. I felt humiliated, scared and embarrassed. I didn't want to involve you or worry you with experiences that came from my carelessness. I knew you'd be mad and because Kagami wasn't being nice to me, I didn't want it to seem like I was asking for attention," Marinette explained, her voice quivering and muffled from the pillow she held to her face.

Adrien ran his hand through his hair, tugging it slightly as the very thought of that creep made him more angrier than Luka's bold love confession.

"Marinette..." Adrien breathed, laying back down onto the bed so that he could tug the pillow away from her face. "Nothing you do begs for attention. This guy did something horrible to you. You deserve to feel safe and you deserve to feel comfort in people you trust. You don't have to go through this alone..." Adrien reached over, taking her hands into his. "Just like you were here when I tried to go through the trauma of being cheated on...the same goes for you. If you're scared or if you're ever approached by that guy again, you can tell me. I'll do everything in my power to keep you out of situations like that. I'll see to it that you'll never see that guy again."

Marinette reached up to him, placing her hand onto his cheek as tears pooled in her eyes.

"But...you have. When I saw him, you inadvertently removed me from that situation. Do you remember the night after our wedding, when I told you that you had been good to me in ways you don't understand? Even when you don't mean to, you always seem to show up at the right time. You don't understand how grateful I am to you." Her chest heaved as tears began to leak down her cheeks.

Adrien widened his eyes, his heart sinking as he could visibly see her trauma by the sound of her voice and by the way she moved.

He truly felt for her, and he wanted to do anything he could to be sure that she was kept safe. It all drew him back to the beginning.

The world was a scary place, and despite the fact that his father had kept him away from it by homeschooling him and refusing to allow him out to make friends or enjoy concerts, Adrien was beginning to see the horrible things that happened to the people he loved and cared about.

Adrien immediately wrapped his arms around her, drawing her body closer to him as he buried his face into her neck.

She trembled against him, her voice breaking as she cried into his chest.

It was as if she had been holding this in for such a long time. With Kagami doing what she was doing, the pain of watching Adrien love her and with the fear of bumping into Nick again, Marinette was truly breaking.

She couldn't hold the facade of being tough and unscathed. She was losing her composure without even knowing.

But she felt safe when he held her. She had always felt that way, even when she returned to him that day after she had bumped into her assailant.

She knew that was where she wanted to stay, and that was the main reason why she had chosen Adrien over everyone else.

Simply because he was the only was that she could trust. He was the only one she truly felt safe with. He was the only one that held her and made her heart soar.

And simply because she loved him.