Marinette threw off her shoes at the door, tossing her keys into a bowl on the hall table. She sighed tiredly, trudging into her bedroom and flopping onto the bed. It was another one of those days, dealing with an unsatisfied client, despite all the work she had put into their outfits. Just once she wanted to get a little respect, especially in her own company. But, clients were going to be as demanding as they wanted and it exhausted all her resources to keep the complaints away.
"When is it going to stop," she groaned, rolling onto her back. She loved working in the fashion industry, but she hated all the prissy customers who thought they knew better. It was her company and her designs they asked for, yet they were never satisfied. Just once she wanted a day where she didn't have to deal with a bad customer.
"Marinette, you knew this was something you were going to have to deal with running your own business," Tiki reminded her, floating down from her spot on the dresser and sitting beside her miraculous holder. "Besides, you've dealt with Chloe for so long you're practically a pro at it," she teased.
Marinette couldn't help but smile at this. Her kwami was right. She had been in the line of fire from Chloe's insults and teasing for years and none of these clients were as bad as her. And at the end of the day she was able to come home to the two things she loved the most; her kwami and her boyfriend.
She sat up, looking around the room. It was quiet. Too quiet. Usually she was greeted with a warm hug and some ice cream when she came home from a long hard day at work, but she hadn't even seen her boyfriend since she got home. "Tiki...where's Adrien?" she asked worriedly. Marinette knew Adrien, he always waited for her to get home, then they would have a bowl of ice cream and go on patrol together. If he was ever late, he would call or text knowing she would worry otherwise.
"Oh, he said he had a last minute meeting to go to, but he wanted me to tell you not to worry and he'll meet you on patrol," Tiki informed her. She rubbed her paws together nervously. The kwami hated to lie to her miraculous holder, but Adrien had made her promise not to say anything and she knew Marinette would forgive her when she found out why.
Marinette eyed her kwami. She knew that look on her face. The look of guilt. "You're not lying to me, are you?" she pried, wondering what she was planning. It wasn't that she didn't trust her kwami, but she could tell something else was going on and her curiosity was getting the better of her.
"Of course not," Tiki said confidently. "Now, let's get going or you'll be late," she urged, circling around her head several times.
Marinette chuckled at her kwami's antics and transformed into her alter ego. She jumped out of the window, threading her yo-yo onto the nearest building and swinging herself onto the roof. Paris was quiet at night, perfect for patrols. There weren't any akuma attacks and the night air cooled her skin from the long days at work. Ladybug scanned the surrounding area, looking for any sign of her leather clad partner, but no luck. Not even a glimpse of his tail.
She paused on the roof of a nearby building, pondering where he could be. She hadn't caught sight of him, even in this darkness that concealed his figure his green eyes would still give him away. Maybe he went back to the apartment to see if she was there, but Tiki had told her he was going to meet up later.
"Where are you Chat Noir," she said quietly to the night air. It wasn't like him to be this late, even if he did have a meeting to attend he wouldn't leave her for almost an hour. She sighed, ready to go back home and crawl into bed. Warm sheets sounded so good, especially after the day she had.
Just as she was making up her mind, she saw a quick flash of light at the top of the Eiffel Tower. She rubbed her eyes, blinking into the darkness. 'That flash...it was so quick, am I seeing things?' she thought. The light flashed again and this time she knew she wasn't hallucinating. The hero flung her yo-yo to the next building and swung herself toward the structure.
Ladybug landed on the Eiffel Tower, looking around in the darkness. She could barely see, it was as if all the lights had been turned off. "Hello?" she called out. "Did someone need help?" she asked, wondering who was flashing the strange light she had seen.
"I've been waiting for you," a voice whispered sweetly.
Ladybug felt a hand on her shoulder and tensed. Who was behind her, what did they want. Her instincts kicked in and she jabbed the person with her elbow, causing them to double over. She then grabbed the intruders arm and threw them over her shoulder. "I don't know who you are, but you're dealing with the wrong person," she said assertively.
Whoever it was groaned, coughing from the impact of her elbow to the gut. "What the...why? I get that you can't see anything, but you really should know my voice by now," the person complained, sitting up slowly. As they looked up at the hero, blue met green and Ladybug hysterically clung to their neck.
"I'm so sorry," she kissed him repeatedly in apology. "I didn't realize it was you, it's so dark up here I thought it was someone else," she leaned back, staring into his green cat eyes. Those emerald eyes that she could get lost in forever.
Chat Noir laughed. "It's okay m'lady," he assured her, brushing her hair back behind her ear. He helped her to her feet and covered her eyes with both hands. "No looking," he whispered softly against her ear, leading her to the other side of the Eiffel Tower.
"Chat, what are you planning?" she giggled childishly. She could feel her feet moving and see light from the spaces in his fingers that were over her eyes. Lights? It was so dark, how did she not notice the very clearly bright lights from the top of the tower?
"Keep your eyes closed, no peeking until I say so," Chat ordered, taking his hands away from her face.
Ladybug kept her eyes closed, but could no longer feel the warmth of her partner behind her. She could hear his feet on the cold metal surface of the tower floor and the light rustling of objects being moved around.
"Okay, you can look now."
The heroine opened her eyes, gasping in surprise at what lay before her. Beautiful lights were strung around the beams and across the ceiling, illuminating the dark night sky with twinkling stars. A picnic blanket was spread before her, plates and containers of of her favorites placed delicately on the cloth. Her eyes welled with tears of happiness and her heart swelled with love.
Adrien held out a bouquet of flowers, smiling like an idiot. He loved to make his girlfriend happy, to see the look of pure love and joy reflected in her beautiful blue eyes, knowing that he was the reason she felt so emotional and so full of happiness. Taking her hand gently, he settled her on the blanket, setting the flowers beside her.
"Adrien, this is just amazing. I can't believe you did this," she breathed, taking in the tentative care he put into the night. This couldn't have happened in a night, surely he had been planning this for quite some time and he definitely had Tiki's help in the planning. She let her transformation down and handed her kwami a macaroon which she happily shared with Plagg.
"Well, it is our five year anniversary," he reminded her.
Marinette froze in her spot. Anniversary? Was it really today?! What day was it even?! She hastily reached for her phone, scrolling through her calendar. She couldn't have forgotten could she? She always remembered, always, it wasn't like her to forget such an important day of their lives!
Adrien chuckled causing her to turn her head up toward him. "You've been so busy lately, I knew you were bound to not remember this year. And you do so much for me, for us, every day, even on your busiest days and that's why I wanted to do something special for you this time," he handed her a plate of her favorites, smiling so casually. There were no puns, no trace of his Chat Noir grin, nothing but sincerity and love in his gaze.
"This is...I just," she paused in her words. "Thank you," she smiled, holding the dish close to her. He always knew how to make her smile, how to melt her heart from even the smallest of deeds.
Marinette poked at her food, smiling like an idiot in love for the first time. It was always difficult to spend peaceful and romantic moments together, with their jobs in the day and fighting off akuma's at night, it seemed like they never got a moment to themselves. But when they planned special little things like these, it made her fall in love all over again.
"I can't believe it's already been five years," Marinette breathed. "Going to college so far away from you was the hardest thing I had ever done, aside from taking on the role of Ladybug," she chuckled, taking a small bite of her meal.
"It was hard for me too, but we made it work. And of course Alya and Nino were a big support system in all that," Adrien reminded her. He remembered when she went off to college, it was the hardest thing he had ever done letting her go. He wanted to tell her not to go, to stay with him in Paris and go to a college closer to home. But he also knew that it was her dream to be a fashion designer and if she could accomplish that at a school far away, he had to let her pursue those dreams.
Marinette set her plate down. "We called and texted every day and four years seemed like an eternity. But we made it and right after graduation you got a place for yourself and asked me to move in with you," she recalled that day fondly. She hadn't been back for more than a week when Adrien told her he had bought himself a place and had asked for her to live with him. Of course her parents were very hesitant, but they supported her decision and trusted Adrien.
"And it was the best decision I ever made," he smiled, but his lips pursed into a straight line. He stood and leaned on the railing, looking over the city. So many thoughts swirled in his mind and he could feel his heart racing a mile a minute.
Marinette's lips curled into a frown. Was it something she said? Something she did? What was with the sudden change in attitude? She stood beside him, resting her arms on the railing and sighed in bliss. She wanted to ask what was on his mind, but decided it best to leave him to his own thoughts. For as long as she had known him and as long as she had been dating him, she knew better than to bother him when he was in deep thought.
Adrien turned his gaze toward his girlfriend. Standing right beside him, her long dark hair swept across her shoulders, framing her beautiful face and those bluebell eyes that sparkled like the north star reflecting strength and love. He always felt so lucky to have fallen for such a beautiful, strong, kind hearted woman and partner in crime.
"Marinette, I have something to say," he said, gathering up his courage at last. This was it, no turning back, he had to do it or he would never be able to.
Marinette peeled her gaze away from the beautiful lights of Paris to the bright green eyes of her longtime love and partner. By the tone of his voice, she feared he was going to present her with bad news or worse want to break up with her.
"Ever since the day I saw you I fell in love. I fell in love with Ladybug and I fell in love with you. You're the most beautiful, kind hearted and fearless girl I've ever met and I love you for who you are, with and without that mask. Spending those years in college apart from you was the hardest thing I had ever done, but it made my love grow stronger every day," he took her hands in his, staring into her beautiful blue eyes. "Each moment we spend together is like the first and I feel like the luckiest guy to be able to say you're my girlfriend," he took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the next part.
"We've had a great five years together and I want to have many more with you. I want to share a home with you, to share the adventures of fighting crime together and to share a life. I want to make many more memories with you, good and bad and someday be able to look back and say, 'this is our life, this is the life we made together'. Most importantly, I want to give you the world."
Adrien knelt down onto one knee, still grasping her hand. He pulled out a small velvet box from his back pocket and carefully opened it. "Will you marry me?" There, sitting in the center of the box was a beautiful triple diamond ring. The center diamond was a lovely shade of blue like her eyes while the two surrounding diamonds were green like his.
Marinette stared at him, tears welling in her eyes. Here was a man, a perfect boyfriend beyond compare asking for her hand in marriage. She had dreamed of this day for so many years and now it felt unreal. "Yes! I'll marry you," she said through deep breaths and many tears. He placed the ring on her finger, watching it slide on effortlessly as if it were always meant to be there.
She pulled him up and into a long hug, still unable to believe it. She was going to spend the rest of her life with Adrien Agreste. A man she loved since the day he stepped into school for the first time, the same goofy cat that made her roll her eyes on every patrol and the person she got to come home to at the end of a long day.
Adrien held her held her a few moments more before letting go, smiling like an idiot. "You've just made me the happiest purrrrson alive," he grinned with that signature Chat Noir smile.
Marinette laughed, unable to contain herself. "That was awful," she chuckled, wiping away her tears. There he was, that loveable chat side of his showing off. Never a dull moment with him always pulling puns out of thin air, but she wouldn't trade it for the world. For as much as his puns made her eyes roll, she loved him all the same.
"That's pawsitively clawful to say m'lady," he put a hand over his heart to emphasize the wounds. Even though the terrible puns, he couldn't stop smiling knowing that this was the girl he would get to spend the rest of his life with. And he couldn't wait to serenade her with many more puns in the future.
Marinette rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Just shut up and kiss me you dorky kitty."
With a semester over, I'm finally able to get back into writing. This chapter was started about four months ago and I finally got around to finishing it.
Weekly updates will resume until next semester, so I hope you all enjoy!