Hey everyone! The Miraculous Fanworks anniversary is still going strong so here is another one! Based on the prompt submitted by papyrus_quill from the server!
You know the drill, I don't own the characters, just the plot! Enjoy!
Caught and Exposed
Chat Noir struggled to hold everything as he jumped from building to building. The small black backpack on his back had been a good idea, and okay well maybe Plagg had a point. Maybe he had bought too much, but his purrincess was sick! He didn't know what she would need, so he planned for everything. Luck favored the prepared!
He grinned to himself at the thought. Not that Ladybug needed any more luck. He adjusted the large bouquet of red roses, and purple tulips, stopping as he thought that maybe he should have bought more. He shook his head quickly to clear it. No, three dozen flowers was enough… right?
He landed on her balcony with a soft thud, smiling as he clutched the bag in his hand and rearranged the flowers one more time. He used his boot to tap on her skylight, hearing some sniffling before he picked up the sound of her moving around.
Her skylight opened and she coughed roughly, instantly making him panic, "Princess are you okay?!"
He gave her a second to stop coughing and she finally started to nod, waving him off as she tried to catch her breath, "Yes, yes Kitty I'm fine, it's just a small cold." She finally seemed to realize what all he was holding because her eyes widened in horror, "Chat Noir what did you do?!"
He smiled brightly, not the least bit ashamed, "I come bearing gifts to make you feel better!"
She awkwardly took the giant bouquet, shaking her head even though she was smiling, "You didn't have to do that. I told you on the phone that I would probably only miss school today, it is Friday after all."
"I know, but I missed you all day bugaboo." He huffed, "Lila jumped at the opportunity to take your seat."
She groaned, "I'm not even surprised. I'm sorry you had to deal with her all by yourself." She sneezed and groaned, keeping her lower face covered as she made her way back down the ladder, still holding the large bouquet of flowers. He followed her quickly, taking the flowers back from her so she could blow her nose. He winced when it caused her to start coughing roughly again.
He put the flowers on her desk, taking the small bag off his back that had a range of medicines in it. He put down the bag in his hand next, digging through it and finding the small pouch, "Cough drop?"
She took the menthol cough drop from him and popped it in her mouth, letting out a soft sigh, "Kwami's I love you."
He chuckled, "Me or the cough drop?"
She grabbed a small throw pillow and chucked it at him lazily, making him smile brightly.
Tikki flew over to them suddenly, "Marinette, you are supposed to take your medicine every four hours."
Marinette frowned but walked over to him, reaching for the bottle of cold medicine on the desk and taking a swig. He got onto her instantly, "Aren't you supposed to measure that?"
"It's fine." She said dismissively, clearing her throat with a grimace. He put a clawed hand to her forehead, seeing the flush on her cheeks.
"You still have a fever." He said with a frown.
"No, I'm all right." She insisted.
He narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you lying to me bugaboo?" He started to smirk, not able to help himself, "I think I'm feline hurt. I thought we had purrfect trust in one another?"
He lifted her up before she could respond beyond letting out a surprised squeak, holding her bridal style as her arms wrapped around his neck. He took her to the chaise, keeping her in his lap. She instantly snuggled against him, and he could still feel some of her fever through the suit.
He asked worriedly, "Have you eaten anything today?"
She shook her head, "Some saltine crackers. My stomach hurts too much."
"I brought you some Miso soup, and some butter crackers..." He told her, holding her protectively to his chest. "You should try to eat something at least, and the salt will help your throat."
She glanced up at him cautiously, "You didn't make the soup, did you?"
He pouted, "If I did, would you try it?"
She laughed, "Of course I would Kitty," she flicked his bell, its soft tinkle making her smile, "even if i'd probably get food poisoning."
"How dare you purrincess!" He said in mock hurt, "I would never give you something that would make you sick!" He told her proudly, "Though I got it from the restaurant we went to a few weeks ago that you liked so much. I was going to try but,"
"You're such a sweetheart Kitty, thank you." She kissed his cheek and he ran his hand through her loose hair, watching her eyes close in content.
"Anything for you my lady." He whispered.
"Just you," she whispered back lovingly, "you are all I've ever wanted."
"Not true," he said chuckling, "You've loved Adrien FAR longer than you've loved me."
She stared at him completely unamused, "You ARE Adrien, ridiculous cat."
"But I'm your ridiculous cat." He nuzzled his nose into her neck, causing her to giggle. The sound of her trap door creaked slightly and they both turned in shock, seeing a set of familiar eyes staring at them in shock, "WHAT THE HELL?!"
…
"Lila's so thoughtful. Asking us to check up on Marinette even though they're not on good terms? She's the sweetest," Alya coos as they make their way up to their friend's room. It had been nearly two weeks since Alya had come over to visit, but she knew her pig-tailed friend needed some space.
Marinette's jealousy was escalating by the day. Alya understood why, but that didn't mean she had to treat Lila so harshly.
Nino frowned at the comment, conflicted. After years of knowing her, he'd become aware of the fact that Marinette actually doesn't like to be visited when she's sick. Furthermore, Lila wasn't the only one of them she wasn't on good terms with. Surprisingly, Adrien was the only one Marinette really talked to anymore. She had even stopped talking to him as much.
"Alya," he said carefully as she started up the stairs to Marinette's room, "maybe we shouldn't be here. Marinette already said she doesn't want to talk to us–"
"It's just petty jealousy over Adrien, Nino," she interrupts, "I'm sure she's already over it." She opened the trap door, ready to call her classmate's name, and recoils when she sees Marinette Dupain-Cheng snuggled up and giggling fondly in the arms of their resident pun-loving superhero, Chat Noir.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Alya screeched.
Chat Noir's ears flattened against his head, but his eyes narrowed at the two intruders to his lady's room, "Princess, I thought,"
"You aren't wrong." She told him quickly, asking Alya without moving from her extremely comfortable position in her Kitty's lap, "I thought I told you not to come over."
Alya was staring back and forth between one of the heroes of Paris, and her best friend sitting in his lap like it was normal. "I just- Lila wanted-"
Marinette scoffed, "Yeah, I'm sure she cares so much. I'm fine."
Nino stood at Alya's side in equal shock, pointing it out even though it was obvious, "Dudette, you're sitting in Chat Noir's lap."
Chat held her tighter, refusing to let go, and she patted his arm gently in comfort, "Yes, I am. I really don't feel good, can we talk about this another time?"
"What is he doing here? What about Adrien?" Alya asked, ignoring her friend's words.
Marinette cleared her throat to avoid coughing, and to avoid giving them away, "I love Adrien, that is never, and will never change."
Alya didn't believe her for a second, "You don't snuggle up with one guy if you are in love with someone else. If you moved on from Adrien, I don't understand why you've still been treating Lila this way."
"Lila is a liar." Chat Noir said firmly, seeing the shock on Nino and Alya's faces.
Nino told him worried, "No offense my man, but you don't know the whole situation."
"I do actually." Chat Noir said easily, "And it's not just what Marinette has told me. Ladybug has told me the same thing on multiple occasions. I even personally caught Lila in a lie, when she tried to tell me that Ladybug was her best friend and that she knew who she was under the mask."
"But you can't prove," Alya started.
"Ladybug had just told me that she had never revealed her identity to anyone. It's reckless and far too dangerous for either of us to reveal our identities, not until Hawkmoth is stopped for good. I can guarantee that Lila has no idea who Ladybug really is." He said sternly.
Marinette let out a heavy sigh, and it incited a coughing fit. Chat rubbed her back gently, staring at her with a worried expression that didn't go unnoticed by the two teens still gawking at them.
Alya tried again as Marinette's cough calmed, "Lila, she is sweet though. Even if she lied about Ladybug, you've been treating her terribly Marinette."
Marinette felt the rumble of a growl building in Chat's chest, and whispered it to him soothingly, "Shh, it's all right."
"It's not." He whispered through his teeth.
Nino readjusted his cap, finally looking away from him, "We've been friends for a long time Marinette. I've never known you to treat people the way you treat Lila, it's not cool dudette."
"We have been friends for a long time Nino, so you should understand that I wouldn't be treating her harshly if she didn't give me a reason." Marinette moved to get off of Chat's lap, but he kept her hand so that she wouldn't move too far from him. He was ready to stand between her and their two friends, the same way he did without the mask.
"What reason could she have possibly given you?" Alya asked exasperatedly, "I understand that you are jealous because she gets to spend time with Adrien because of the modeling thing, and I even understand you being upset that he asked her to go out with him last week,"
"SHE SAID WHAT?!" Marinette and Chat both yelled in shock, startling Nino and Alya.
Nino was nodding, "You didn't know dudette? Adrien told me that he had asked someone to go out with him, so I know it's not a lie. Lila told Alya the same thing Adrien had said to me, that they were keeping their relationship a secret to avoid the press."
Chat said it angrily, forgetting that he was Chat Noir at the moment and NOT Adrien Agreste, "I would never go out with her! I'm dating Marinette, Nino, how could you just assume I meant Lila?!"
Marinette's eyes widened as she turned and stood in front of him, staring into his face until he realized what he'd done.
Alya's mouth fell open, and Nino's was gapping like a fish.
"A-Adrien?" Nino managed to get out.
Chat went still, a sign that Marinette knew meant that he was full blown panicking. She held his face in her hands, telling him softly, "It's fine, it's okay mon coeur."
"I-I'm so sorry I didn't mean…"
She shook her head, rubbing his cheek with her thumb and seeing the tension begin to leave his shoulders.
Marinette turned back to their friends, saying it heavily, "Yes, Adrien is Chat Noir. Alya is Rena Rouge, and Nino is Carapace."
Their eyes widened, "How-" "How did you know that?"
She said it instantly, "Because I'm Ladybug."
Alya took a step back, "No you're not."
She huffed, "Tikki, spots on!" Her transformation took hold, Chat kissing the back of her head as she stood without fear in front of their friends who were freaking out.
Nino regained his composure first, asking firmly, "I, I want to know the truth. What's really going on with Lila?"
Ladybug and Chat Noir both dropped their transformations, and with a little prodding, Alya came out of her stupor - wanting to know the truth too. Adrien and Marinette told them everything, all of Lila's lies and threats, not just to Marinette but to Ladybug too. They even told them about their suspicions that she was being frequently 'willingly' akumatized, just to cause trouble and tension between all of them.
Alya was in tears by this point, Nino staring between his two friends while the guilt weighed heavily on his heart.
"That… That bitch." Alya started, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Nino nodded, "I can't even… I'm sorry dudette. I should have known better and I still, I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too, to both of you. I've been treating you both like YOU were doing something wrong when it was HER." Alya said, an angry fire starting in her voice.
Adrien smirked a Chat Noir grin, telling them instantly, "I know exactly how you can make it up to us."
Nino said it quickly, "Anything my man."
Adrien exchanged a sly look with Marinette who shared his smirk, "Let's stop that liar once and for all."
Thanks for reading! More one-shots are coming soon to continue celebrating the anniversary, so don't fret!
And as always, feel free to leave a comment or review! Feedback is my fuel!
Au Revoir for now!