The air was cool and crisp when Ladybug left from her balcony, but the rain had thankfully been holding off for now. The spotted heroine sat high up on the Eiffel Tower admiring the view when she heard the thud of her partner landing behind her.
"Good evening m'lady, how are you on this fe-line evening." Chat gave her a low theatrical bow making her giggle and she patted the space next to her for him to sit.
"It's been really quiet actually. There haven't been many people out. How about you Chat? You seem happy tonight." Chat plopped down next to her, laying back with his hands behind his head.
"Got to hang out with a friend a bit today, hopefully I'll get to see more of her tomorrow." Chat closed his eyes and let the cool breeze blow over him, a smile playing on his lips.
"Her?" Ladybug questioned. Chat popped an eye open.
"Yeah, she's...ah...a friend. So no need to feel jealous, Bug." He added teasingly with a wink, but Ladybug wasn't quite buying it. She could swear there was a certain kind of sparkle in his eyes as he gazed up at nothing in particular, and was that a hint of pink poking out from under his mask?
"Hmmm, so you say Chat, but I think your face betrays you." She said teasingly. Chat sat up and looked at her surprised, but she just giggled at him. "It's fine you know Chaton, if you want to spend time with another girl you have every right to. Besides, I've got a chance to spend some time with the boy I like and I think maybe he might finally be noticing me." Ladybug looked off into the distance with a soft smile on her face. Before when she would talk about the boy she liked, Chat always felt a stab of sadness and dare he say jealousy, but this time that didn't happen. Instead the only thought he had was being able to see Marinette tomorrow, and his heart was filled with warmth and joy. Has something in him really changed that much?
"Well he would have to be blind not to notice" He said quietly. Ladybug knew he was being sincere, but she just shrugged.
"I don't know really, I'm not the same person under the mask. Truth is I've been sending him mixed signals for so long I'm surprised he sees me as anything at all, but I'm determined to make the most of this new opportunity. It might be the last one I have." He looked at the way her eyes smiled and for the first time, he really hoped that this guy would see Ladybug for the wonderful girl she was.
"I know what you mean Bug." He looked down, fiddling with the ring on his finger. He suddenly felt really sad at the thought that after graduation he might not see much of his friends anymore. Heck he hardly saw them now. What's it going to be like not seeing them everyday at school? Not seeing Marinette everyday? It wasn't something he really wanted to think about. "Well, ah...should we maybe go do our patrol?" He said as he stood up. He offered Ladybug his hand to help her up. As he held it though, he felt a strange sense of familiarity in it, but his heart didn't quicken like it used to, not like it had when he'd held Marinette's hand.
Chat had a lot of time to think while running on his patrol. His friends had started putting in applications for jobs or university for when school finishes, but for Adrien, his future was already being set in stone, laid out for him by his father and he felt powerless to fight it. Chat might have freedom, but Adrien was becoming more and more restricted and he hated it. He hated the fact that he was technically an adult with no say in his life whatsoever. Chat returned back to the Eiffel Tower first, leaning against the steel structure lost in thought about what the future held for him. He did have one choice though, one opportunity to find some happiness for himself with a girl that had always been there, right behind him.
"All clear your end, Chat?" Ladybug asked cheerily behind him. Chat hadn't heard her return, but turned and tried to smile for her.
"Yeah, you were right, not many people out tonight." Ladybug looked up at the darkened sky overhead and unhooked her yo-yo.
"Maybe we might call it a night then, I have to be up early in the morning anyway." Before she could swing off though, Chat caught her wrist in his hand.
"Wait, can I ask you something?" Ladybug stopped and put her yo-yo back on her hip.
"Sure Kitty, what is it?" She asked happily, but her face changed when she could see worry laced through his eyes, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He turned from her slightly, wringing his hands as he looked out over the city skyline.
"Do you ever feel like your life has been pre-determined for you and that no matter what you do, you can't seem to escape that destiny that's been pre-designed for you?" Ladybug looked with concern at her partner. His head was down and his shoulders slumped forward. What could be making her Kitty feel so hopeless?
"No Chat, I don't." She said honestly, placing her hand on his arm. He turned his eyes to look at her. "We are all in charge of our own destiny. Even though you and I didn't ask to become heroes, at the end of the day we still chose to accept the challenge that was offered to us. We made a choice to be partners and to protect our city." She smiled to herself. "You know, I almost quit being Ladybug before I really got started." Chat looked at her in surprise.
"But why m'lady?" She wrapped her arms around herself, walking to the edge of the platform.
"I didn't think I was good enough to be a hero. I even tried to hide my Miraculous in my friend's bag because I thought she would do a better job. But you helped me Chat." She turned back towards him. He pointed to himself and she smiled at the confused look on his face. "Yes Kitty, you were the one that gave me the courage to go on when I thought I had failed with Stoneheart. You have always been there for me, supporting me, encouraging me and believing in me when I no longer believed in myself. When I blamed myself for Master Fu, it was you I leaned on for support, and when I became Guardian it was your strength that gave me strength."
She could see tears forming in Chat's eyes. She knew that things for him at home had not always been the best, he'd said as much to her before. He couldn't say much, of course, in case he gave away his identity, but she knew that he was expected to take an active role in his family's business, which he didn't really want to do. Many nights he had told her of his struggles to please his father and there were numerous times she had wanted to hold him tight and kiss away the tears from his eyes, but she couldn't. But damn it, he was going to hear just how important he is to her. She walked back to him and reached a hand to delicately touch his cheek.
"The point is Chat, sometimes someone can come into your life that helps you to become more than you thought you could be. You make me a better Ladybug and someone out there will make you a better you. You're more than you think you are Chat Noir, don't let anyone ever make you feel second best." Chat reached a hand up to hers on his cheek. Curling his fingers around hers he gently kissed the back of her hand.
"Thank you Bug. That means everything to me." Letting go of her hand, he took out his staff and flashed her a smile. "You know no matter what happens, this knight will always be here to protect you m'lady." Ladybug smiled at him fondly.
"I know you will Kitty, I know." Ladybug stood for a moment, watching until he disappeared over the horizon, closing her eyes a single tear trailed down her cheek.
A huge part of the day was lost to an akuma. Marinette had started her day fantastically being presented with a large extra hot Latte, just the way she liked it by Adrien. How anybody could look like a ray of sunshine that early in the morning was beyond her. As for herself, her fringe had fallen out from her bun on the metro, and for the life of her was not cooperating whatsoever. To her surprise, Adrien whipped out a comb from his jacket's inner pocket and proceeded to take out a few of her pins and fix the offending fringe into place. When she questioned him on his amazing hair skills, he simply laughed shyly and said he had picked up a few hints and tips from his stylists over the years. Marinette, however, had no idea how much Adrien really wanted to just let all her hair out. He wasn't sure himself why, but he just figured she would look stunning with her hair out, especially with that adorable blush she was now sporting.
After escorting her down to the design hub, he left her in Sasha's capable hands while he went to attend a board meeting. The coffee, he explained, was an attempt not to fall asleep during it. Sasha was excited to see Marinette and her sketchbook. As Adrien had predicted, he was highly impressed and praised her for the direction she had taken on her challenge project. Setting her to work with one of the designers, everything was going so well and she was just starting to find her groove when a disgruntled accountant from the neighboring financial building decided today was a good day to try and haggle his boss into giving him a pay rise. Obviously that conversation had not gone down well, and soon walls were crashing down all around them.
"Stay calm everyone, you know the drill. Please make your way quickly and quietly to the emergency exits." Sasha instructed. Marinette followed the crowd outside until she could break away into a side alley. Hiding beside a large rubbish bin Tikki came out to greet her.
"It's not fair Tikki, everything was going great and now this! What is wrong with Hawkmoth? He doesn't send any akumas for over a week and now he picks today! Not to mention I'm going to miss my lunch" Tikki gave Marinette a sympathetic look.
"Marinette, I don't think Hawkmoth runs to a schedule, but maybe if we get this done quickly enough, you can still have enough time for lunch."
Unfortunately, that was going to be easier said than done. As a numbers man, the accountant was quite calculating making him difficult to out smart. On top of that, Ladybug noticed that not only was Chat late turning up, but he was really distracted, constantly looking around and narrowly missing the electric charges that came from the man's pen, no doubt where the akuma was hiding. After a lot of manoeuvring, one lucky charm and a well timed Cataclysm later, Ladybug was eventually able to purify the akuma and send it on it's merry way. Not wanting to get into a discussion with the press today, Ladybug made sure the akuma victim was alright before indicating for Chat to follow her.
Once they were out of the public eye, she approached her partner who still seemed distracted. "Chat, what's the matter? You seemed really off today." Chat lowered his eyes and his cat ears flattened.
"I'm so sorry m'lady, but I lost sight of my friend in the crowd and couldn't find her anywhere. I was worried." Ladybug nodded in understanding as her earrings beeped. So that's why he was late.
"I'm sure she's fine Chat, and the Miraculous Ladybugs would have fixed everything anyway." That didn't seem to be making Chat feel any better. Ladybug placed a hand on his arm, smiling kindly at him. "Why don't you go find her and put your mind at ease." Chat smiled and nodded at her as he bolted away to the other side of the building. Ladybug dropped down into a nearby alley and seeing the coast was clear, dropped her transformation. Tikki fell into her hands and Marinette gave her a macaroon. "Chat seems to really like that girl doesn't he?" She said, a twinge of sadness in her voice.
"Almost as much as you like Adrien?" Tikki offered with a smile. Adrien...Marinette suddenly wondered where he must have been. Last she heard he was going to a meeting, although they must have had procedures for akuma attacks like most places around Paris have. These days akuma drills were as routine as fire drills. Tucking Tikki back into her bag, she made her way back into the Gabriel building where she was quickly seen by Adrien and Sasha. "Marinette." Adrien called out, rushing over to her. "Where were you, I was so worried." He put both hands on her shoulders and looked her up and down as though he was checking that she was alright.
"I'm fine Adrien, really, I...ah...got caught up in the crowd and just found myself a hiding place, that's all." Adrien seemed somewhat alright with that answer, although he was still shaking his head.
"Like I told your father Adrien, we should be doing akuma drills more often for the new employees and students." Sasha said as he joined the two of them. "Is not the first time I have misplaced my designers." He laughed. Adrien's face softened.
"I'll mention it to him." Adrien said before turning back to Marinette. "Promise me next time you'll stay with Sasha and not get yourself lost again, okay." He leaned forward, his face closer to hers so he could see her eyes. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Marinette couldn't find the words to speak and only managed to nod her head in response, her heart pounding in her chest at the intensity of his eyes, almost the same frantic look that Chat just had.
"You know most of the day is practically gone. Why don't you two kids go and get yourselves a late lunch, take the rest of the afternoon off." Marinette and Adrien both looked back at Sasha.
"Oh, I don't know, Miss Sancour wanted me to…" Sasha held up a hand to stop her.
"I'll handle Nathalie, you two go on." Sasha winked at Adrien as he turned and walked away.
A small ray of sunlight was struggling to peek through the grey cloud as the two teens headed down the footpath. Walking a little way down the street, Adrien took Marinette down an almost invisible side street where a green door was hidden, tucked behind a wall of hanging plants, an almost concealed sign read "La Porte Verte". Walking in, the cafe was small but cosy inside, the aroma of coffee filling the air. "Ah, Mr Adrien, nice to see you again." They were greeted by the owner, a portly older gentleman with kind eyes and a broad smile. "Oh, you have brought a girlfriend with you I see." Both Adrien and Marinette turned bright red.
"Oh...we..ah..she's...not...ah." They both flubbed, but the owner only gave a knowing wink, touching the side of his nose with his finger.
"It's alright, your secret is safe with me, come, I have your favourite booth available for you." The two visibly flushed teens followed the owner to a tucked away table, where he set them up with menus before leaving them be. Neither was going to bring up the whole girlfriend thing.
Marinette looked around in wonder at the little cafe with its hanging flower pots and old world charm. There was a book nook in the corner and the lighting was soft but warm. "How on earth did you find this place? It's like stepping into another world." Adrien smiled at her over his menu at the look of wonder on her face.
"One of the other models told me about it around a year ago. They don't advertise the place, it's just word of mouth so it's somewhere we can come where fans generally won't find us and we can eat in peace." Marinette put her menu down and looked at him.
"Does that happen often, I mean fans just barging in where you are?" Adrien put his own menu down to look at her.
"It comes in waves I guess. I probably get it the worst then some of the others because, you know, face of the brand and all that." He said rolling his eyes. "Then there are certain advertising campaigns that fans go a little more nutty over than others, like that perfume advert a few years ago." Marinette could feel embarrassment beginning to rise again remembering running around half of Paris with Adrien in her pajamas. She tucked her head to avoid looking at him.
"Hey." He said, reaching out to grab her hand across the table. "You really tried to help me that day. You were even willing to wear that ridiculous disguise with me so I could try and see my mother's movie. Don't think I ever forgot that." He said squeezing her hand. "You were my everyday Ladybug that day." Looking back at him, Marinette could feel all the embarrassment suddenly melt away, and all she could feel was the warmth of his hand holding hers until the waiter came to take their order.
Marinette knew she would never remember what she ate that day, although she was slightly annoyed Adrien had put her order on his tab rather than let her pay for it, but what she did remember was the genuine smile that lit up his face, the animated way he talked about some new movie he had recently seen and the soft looks he would give her when she told him about her designs. But what she remembered most was the feel of his hand that had found hers again across the table, as the second round of coffee came out.
"So your heart is set on designing huh. Are you going to apply to my father for one of the summer internships?" She could feel him rubbing circles with his thumb over the back of her hand.
"Yeah, well, I haven't decided just yet. I mean Chloe's mum did offer me an opportunity after that bowler hat competition so I guess I could always explore that too. Maybe..." She saw his face had dropped as she spoke.
"You...you would leave Paris." She realised that his thumb had stopped moving and she could swear that he had gripped her hand tighter. She had forgotten about the fact that Audrey Bourgeois' offer meant going to New York.
"No, I don't think I could really." She said, and he seemed to have let out a breath.
"Well, I'm sure whoever you go with will be lucky to have you." He smiled, a genuine smile that lit up his eyes.
"What about you?" She asked. "Modeling or something else?" Adrien shrugged his shoulders.
"Modeling isn't exactly a long term career, not that I would want it to be. It has its moments, but it's not something I enjoy most of the time." She felt the circles on her hand start up again. "I would have preferred to do something else with my life, like be a teacher or something, but my father would never allow it. If I don't model, I have to go into the business in another capacity." His thumb stopped moving again on her hand. "I just wish I could do something that I wanted to do, you know. Be my own person and not just the son of Gabriel Agreste."
Marinette wanted to say something to him, tell him he was wrong, that he was more than just the son of Gabriel Agreste, that he meant more to her than just a name and a face on a poster, but just as she tried to muster the courage, her phone decided to ring. Adrien reluctantly let go of her hand so she could answer it.
"Hi mama...is it that late?...I'm sorry, I guess I lost track of time...no I'm at a coffee shop with Adrien...yes that Adrien...mama really! Have you been talking too much to Alya or something?...yes alright…" Adrien motioned for her to hand the phone over to him. She narrowed her eyes questioningly before she told her mother Adrien wanted to talk to her.
"Hi Mrs Cheng, I'm sorry I kept Marinette out, but I promise I won't let her walk home in the dark...no, it's no trouble...yes alright bye." He grinned as he handed the phone back. "I'll text my bodyguard to come pick us up. I hope you won't be in any trouble." Marinette waved her hand dismissively.
"No, no. Nothing like that. As long as my parents know where I am and who I'm with they are fine. Besides, I'm sure they trust you." Adrien wondered for a brief moment whether he could really trust himself, but he let that thought slide, for the meantime at least.
After escorting Marinette home in the car, Adrien got out and opened the door for her, offering her his hand to help her out. Instead of letting go as she had expected him too, he laced his fingers through hers as they walked the few steps to the door. "I really enjoyed this afternoon." He said as she turned her eyes up towards his. "Could we maybe do it again after work tomorrow?" Marinette's eyes dropped down and he felt his heart sink, maybe he had pushed his luck.
"I promised Alya we would catch up tomorrow afternoon." She said. Then she gave his hand a light squeeze. "But I'm free on Thursday." Suddenly Adrien's face broke into the most radiant smile.
"Thursday then. Plus I'll have your coffee waiting for you in the morning too." He was still holding her hand and something inside him didn't want to let go. As she looked up at him with her shining bluebell eyes and perfect pink lips, Adrien was overwhelmed by a sudden desire to want to kiss her. But this wasn't a date, this was just friends having a catch up for coffee and a late lunch. Would a kiss on the cheek be inappropriate? Then his mind all but short circuited.
Marinette smiled innocently at him, having left the sweet tingle of kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for today Adrien, I'll see you tomorrow." With that she let go of his hand and walked in the door, closing it behind her. Racing up to her room, she squealed into her pillow. "Are you alright Marinette?" Tikki asked with a giggle in her voice.
"I'm better than alright Tikki, I'm floating on a cloud." She gushed. "You don't think the kiss on the cheek was too much do you?" Tikki floated over to Marinette and nuzzled her cheek.
"Judging by the look on his face, not at all. Marinette, I think Adrien is finally starting to see you as someone more than just a friend." Marinette looked over at the pictures on her wall of her friends. There was one there of just her and Adrien that Alya had taken in the park one lunchtime, his arm was around her shoulders and he had that warm, genuine smile that reached to his eyes. She unpinned it, looking at how happy they looked. She remembered Alya even said to them that to anyone else looking at them, they already seemed like a couple. Marientte could have sworn Adrien had blushed just as badly as she did. Marinette held the picture to her chest and sighed.
"I hope you're right Tikki."