When Adrien and Marinette came back inside, the art room was clean. The white blankets stained with paint that covered the room were gone. All the paint supplies were gone too. No splash of peculiar colour anywhere in sight. The two looked impressed.
"Nice work guys." Marinette cheered when their two friends came out. Their clothes were messed up and colours that the opposite wore were mixed. Adrien and Marinette shared a look.
"What?" Alya asked.
"Nothing." Adrien smirked. He walked away and grabbed his stuff.
"What!?" She asked him again.
"Nothing!" He repeated. Nino looked at the two and then at Marinette.
"What?" He asked her. Marinette laughed and shook her head.
The four friends locked the art room and left it clean. They laughed and told jokes as they walked to Nino's loft.
"Did you see your face when the balloon came and...and!" Marinette couldn't finish her sentence. She choked on laughter.
"Yeah, yeah. How about when you slipt?" Alya rebutted. Marinette slowly quieted down and glared at her best friend. The boys just quietly walked next to the two and joined the conversation if they felt like it.
Nino unclocked the building. The four walked in and placed their stuff on the couch on the first floor.
"What are you going to do with this?" Marinette asked. She twirled around gesturing to the mostly empty space of the first floor.
"You've had this building for almost um, two years," Alya added. Nino smirked. He and Adrien shared a look. They got together and made some distance between them and the girls.
"Ever wonder what goes on in the boys club?" Alya asked Marinette. They watched the boys converse.
"I'm too afraid to know." Marinette joked. The boys turned around with an even more confident look. They strode over to the girls.
"You ready?" Adrien asked.
"You asking us or your boyfriend?" Alya asked.
"Excuse you! You're my only one." Nino shouted.
"Nope, not anymore. Doesn't look like it, you cheater." Marinette snorted. Nino looked away jokingly. Adrien punched Nino in the shoulder, making Nino lose his balance and act.
"Okay!" He said. He looked to Adrien and nodded.
"We're opening a bar!" They told the girls.
"Really?"
"That's awesome, babe." Alya attempted to kiss Nino's cheek but he moved away. "What?"
"I'm sorry, who are you again?" Alya's mouth hung open and deflated.
"You want a bar, there better alcohol." Alya walked up the stairs.
The three laughed as they watched Alya go up to the second floor. The three soon followed Alya's lead and went upstairs. They decided to order pizza and binge on horror movies and junk food. Marinette and Nino weren't big fans of horror but they agreed to watch. Nino screamed time to time and then everyone burst into laughter, forgetting about the gruesome scene that played on Nino's tv. They ended the night on the couch watching a few comedies. Alya and Adrien were the last two who were still awake.
"Zoolander?" Adrien asked. Alya shook her head. "Run, Fatboy Run?" Alya gave him a look.
"What's that?"
"That is a yes." Adrien pressed play. Alya chuckled at a few scenes but other than that she watched the movie with a smile on her face. Often at times Adrien caught her not paying attention.
"Adrien?"
"Mhmm?" His focus directed to the movie.
"Marinette likes this guy." She blurted out. Alya watched closely for a reaction. Adrien didn't seem fazed but he was. He didn't show it but he was curious and hurt. He turned to Alya giving her his full attention.
"Do you know who is?" He managed to say. What was he supposed to say? Nothing came to his mind on how to lead the conversation. All things he wanted to ask made him seem like a crazy ex. Adrien didn't want to be that, he wanted to be there for Marinette, support her, be happy for her. Even if it meant letting her go.
"Nope. She just calls him 'guy in leather'." Adrien scrunched up his eyebrows. He wasn't stupid, his first guess was that he was the guy. Well, Chat Noir was the guy. How crazy is that, being jealous of your superhero persona?
"Well..." Adrien looked at Alya. She arched an eyebrow and just stared. He didn't really have any words for the situation. "I don't know, what do you want me to say!?" He laughed. He tried to play it off as a joke, Alya looked like she was going to lose it. She looked annoyed and tired. She inhaled deeply.
"I want you to tell me how you feel." She paused. "What do you think of Marinette? Because I know that you guys aren't 'just friends'."
"...How I feel?" Adrien mumbled.
Has anyone really asked him that? What did he feel? Adrien liked Marinette sure, maybe even loved. But he tried, he had to, to forget about those feelings. As Chat Noir he was a whole different person, to Marinette and the rest of the world. That black cat didn't have to hide his feelings for the girl that he spent his free time with. As his superhero persona, they hanged as friends. Adrien found that amusing, how Marinette could act so casually with a guy dressed like a cat in her room. How she could be so friendly to a guy that abounded her. To a guy that lost her trust.
"I-I feel like. Well, I don't know?" He thought about it.
If he said it out loud, it was there, it was in the world and he could never swallow those words again. He couldn't pretend the feeling those words represent wasn't there. He gave it a shot. It wouldn't do anything, it'll just drift out the open window and into the ears of the only person in the room, Alya. Adrien could say it and never again. Maybe if he said it, it'll be gone, out of his system. He wouldn't have to think about her almost every time his mind went blank or feel the way he did every time he was alone. If he said it, maybe, all of that would go away.
"I love Marinette." He told Alya confidently.
She didn't look the least bit fazed or affected by the news. She didn't have to be, Adrien thought. It didn't mean anything.
But why did he still feel the same? Why did he still feel the crushing anxiety of losing Marinette? The pain he felt because they weren't together and he couldn't tell her how much he loved her. How much he truly loved her, in a quiet place all alone doing the most normal thing. At a party in a crowd doing the most teenage typical thing. Telling her how she wasn't the world but the universe. How she didn't take his breath away but his life. How much he loved her, so much more than she would've thought and what he could describe. Why was that multiplied?
Adrien couldn't see how Alya pressed the pause button on her phone after he spoke those words. He didn't know that she recorded their whole conversation. Or how behind the kitchen walls Marinette was crumbled down to her knees with her head down and tears dripping down her cheeks. There was so much Adrien didn't know.
The fact that Alya had his love confession on tape, how Marinette hurt each time she saw Adrien because she was reminded how he stood there behind the school under a large tree looking like someone told him he was the last human being on Earth in the whole galaxy. Or how music softly played outside of the building. The city was brought to life by warm lights and a sweet melody of guitar strings. Adrien didn't know that at that time in that room, he started a world of chaos and pain.
Marinette and Alya left Nino's and Adrien's place earlier that morning. Alya drove as Marinette looked out the window mumbling the lyrics to whatever song came on the radio. Her mumbling and the sound of Alya's tapping against the wheel were the only sound in the car. Usually, when Alya tapped her fingers or bounced her leg, it meant she was thinking. About something super important, over-thinking that super important thing. And when she stressed about that thing she pulled at her hair or scratched her skin.
Marinette glanced at Alya. "You sure you're okay?" She asked.
"Hm?" Alya responded, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Are you okay?" Marinette repeated.
"Oh, of course, yeah," Alya answered. Her eyebrows scrunched up and she turned down the road. "Why?" She glanced at Marinette.
"You look like you're thinking," Marinette muttered. "Really, really hard." Alya sighed.
"I am."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"Yes." The car was quiet. Marinette rephrased the question.
"Can you talk about it?"
"I don't know." Alya paused. "It's about someone we know, someone we care about. This person, Marinette this person is a large factor in your life. Our life. And I can't help but stop thinking about him." She told Marinette.
"Oh my god, are you pregnant? Alya!" Marinette shrieked. Alya swerved the car.
"What!? No! No, I'm not pregnant, this has nothing to do with me. Or Nino." Another pause.
"Did someone die?"
"No." Alya parked the car in their buildings parking lot. Both girls hopped out of the car and took their bags.
"Well?" Marinette unlocked the door and held it for Alya.
"Well, what? I don't know if I should talk about it, it's not my secret to tell."
"Are you kidding me? I'm your best friend." The two started walking up to their apartment. Alya looked down at Marinette on the lower step.
"This person may mean more to you than I do," Alya muttered.
The two had rough times together. They never acted like those hard times never happened. The two had troubles together and their own. Neither of them let the other work through those troubles alone, always there for support, or advice, or someone to talk to. Just there. Maybe sometimes those things weren't enough. But, no matter what they never left each other's side. That's all that mattered, they were still together and they still felt like they could take on the world. One life crashing problem at a time.
Marinette rushed up the stars to Alya's level and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Trust me when I say - That you mean a whole different thing to me, no matter how much I care for another person. The way I care for you is just for you, my best friend." Marinette smiled at her. Alya nodded and wrapped her arms around Marinette for a few seconds and quickly walked up the steps to their apartment.
"So you going to tell me what it is?" Marinette shouted.
"I need a shower," Alya dodged the question. Marinette laughed and followed her up to their shared home.
Adrien walked out of the room he was supposed to move in to, the only thing holding him back was his promise to move out after his last show. He scratched his head, his hair sticking in all different directions. Nino stood at the counter, a button up pyjama top and stripe pants hung off of his body loosely. He glared at the coffee pot that made an awful growl as it boiled. Adrien filled a glass cup with warm water and cringed. He poured it out into the sink and filled the same cup with cold water. He looked around.
"Where's Marinette and Alya?"
"They went home," Nino answered his eyes still on the coffee pot.
He tried, he really did, but panic set in the second he noticed they weren't there. Alya could be telling Marinette everything he said last night, she could be telling Marinette how stupid he was and how she should talk to him. How Marinette didn't feel the same and he was being a lovesick dog. He didn't know a lot of things and he wanted to. He wanted the answers to his question and the curiosity to stop. Because all it caused was more pain. He didn't know how much he could take. He didn't know why such a small thing caused so much trouble. He didn't know how long it would take him to break.
He got ready thinking about it. He got dressed thinking about the crushing curiosity. He left the building with Nino thinking about blurting out the words to Marinette. He worked with designers who did their double checks on the outfits they made for him. He talked to fellow models but with his mind elsewhere.
"Adrien, are you listening?" One model asked.
This model wasn't just a model, he was like the male version of Chloe. Although Adrien did find that weird at first, he also found it comforting finding familiarity. His name was Jay and he was one of the models he toured with. He finished his tour earlier than Adrien meaning he got back to Paris earlier than him. Adrien's face would light up when he found that he would be sharing the stage with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like the sky. Adrien always thought of him as a little brother. Many times he caught himself thinking Jay would be the perfect love-child of him and Marinette.
"Totally," Adrien responded. Jay smirked.
"It looked like you were daydreaming."
"Daydreaming, paying attention, same thing." Adrien shrugged. Jay laughed and passed Adrien a file. Adrien looked at it and back at Jay. Jay answered the question that was on the tip of Adrien's tongue.
"It's the chosen designer from The Special Arts University classroom 2C." Adrien looked at the file. It was just a plain file.
"How many designers from the school again?" Jay looked unsure.
"I'll be back." Adrien laughed. He looked down at the file and opened it.
Name: Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Age: 22
The chosen student from 2C of The Special Arts University fashion program.
Role in the show: Fashion designer
Accepted collections: 3
Adrien stared down at the cover page stunned. It was just a description of how Marinette was the only person chosen from her class to be one of the designers in the show. He turned the page to see it titled 'Weird and Wonderful-Female design'. It had a description of the process it took for her to make it. The back of the page had a printed copy of her final design. It definitely looked wonderful and it played the role of it being weird, unique in its own way. The length of the skirt was no longer long but cut short at the front and long at the back creating a tail with long layers that would drape down to the floor. It had stockings that were scribbled with words. Adrien could make out some of the sentences. 'Weird in its own way. Crazy but not insane. Playing normal in this wonderland. Down the rabbit hole.' And more Adrien couldn't decipher.
The next page had the same thing except it was her weird and wonderful male design. Instead of it being white it was now black with the same words as the stockings for her female design. A top hat with a white ribbon, the base black and the design the same as the suit. It matched, but it was different. Adrien loved it.
'Ladybug and Chat Noir: Female Ladybug Design'. A ladybug pattern skirt with a black, sleeveless top, a red leather jacket and black knuckle cut gloves. It had its own twist. A girl with a badass behaviour but sweet personality would wear it. Adrien thought Marinette captured the heroine perfectly. 'Ladybug and Chat Noir: Male Chat Noir Design'. It was a black suit with a neon green tie and belt. Except the button up shirt had a floral stitch. It looked like flowers were growing from the sides of the shirt. Swirls of neon green were created and grew from the end of the shirt. He liked it. A sneaky yet beautiful addition to the suit. Simple and creative, Adrien liked to think Chat Noir was like that sometimes.
The last collection was definitely a surprise. She mixed office suits with hip-hop costumes. 'Street Style-Female Design'. Baggy black pants with a striped button up. 'Street Style-Male Design'. Black jeans, a blue and black flannel and a leather jacket with a black button-up and white tie. The female design had a nice mix and the colours she used for the male one made it odd.
She made it work either way. She got into the show. Something he knew that she's wanted since he has known her. Marinette always wanted to be a featured designer in one of Gabriel Agreste's shows and now she was.
"Okay," Jay breathed. Adrien took a step back, he was shocked by Jay's sudden appearance. "One student from all designing classes were chosen. There are only three student designers." Jay finished. Adrien smiled and closed the file. He put the file up to Jay's chest as he walked past only stopping to say what he wanted to say.
"I'm pretty sure you can just call them designers." And Adrien walked off.
After a tiring day, Adrien stood outside the show building waiting for his car to arrive. He had his bag on his shoulder and his phone in his hands. His phone vibrated and a notification that someone texted him popped up.
Group Chat: Young, Dumb and Flawless
Alya: Come to our place. Marinette is making ice creeeeaaam!
Nino: Yum
Adrien: On my way
Adrien smiled. He couldn't remember eating something Marinette made, he was excited to try her ice cream. When the gorilla arrived Adrien told him to go to the girls' apartment. The large bodyguard grunted in response and did what he was told. Around ten minutes later Adrien was walking up the apartment building to Alya and Marinette's door. He knocked on the wood lightly and waited. Nino soon popped his head out and smiled.
"Hey." Nino chirped. Adrien laughed.
"Hey, Nino." Adrien walked into the apartment to be greeted with the scent of vanilla.
"Wow." He said impressed.
"I know right." Alya sighed as she watched her best friend mix the frozen cream. Nino came up from behind her and wrapped his hands around her hips, he leant down and kissed her cheek.
"You're so cute." He whispered. Adrien could hear him from across the room and laughed. Nino turned around. "What?" Adrien just shook his head.
"I know they're gross," Marinette told Adrien as she stuck the metal bowl in the freezer.
"I thought it was ready!" Alya complained.
"It wasn't, it has to go in the freezer for an hour or so."
"Aaaghh!" Alya turned around straight into Nino's chest and groaned.
Nino scratched his girlfriend's head and waddled to the couch where Adrien sat. Adrien looked down at the papers he had in his lap. The only time he directed his attention to something else was when Marinette joined them in the living room. She grabbed her laptop from the coffee table and sat down in an armchair. She looked determined. Alya turned her head away from Nino's neck to Marinette.
"Please stop staring at the screen so hard, you'll become blind."
"Tsk!" Marinette grabbed the pillow under her and threw it at Alya, hitting Nino in the process. The two girls shared a laugh and returned to their separate tasks. Alya snuggling into Nino's neck as he rubbed her back and Marinette who was beginning to look frustrated.
"What?" Nino asked.
"I'm supposed to get an email from my teacher, she said she'll notify us by today. She hasn't!" Marinette exclaimed.
"Notify you about what?" Alya asked.
"If we got accepted into the program or not."
"What program?" Alya pressed.
"The fashion show." Marinette deflated. She gave up hope that she was getting featured in the show.
"I think I know why she hasn't emailed you yet," Adrien said gaining everyone's attention He got up from his seat and walked over to Marinette. Adrien gently placed a file on Marinette's keyboard. She knotted her eyes in confusion.
"Oh my god!" She shouted once she opened it. She put all her things in her lap onto the coffee table. Marinette jumped up and wrapped her arms around Adrien's neck. He was used to hugging Marinette, as Chat Noir. It made no difference though. He still had his arms wrapped tightly around her small waist, afraid she was going to turn into smoke.
"Thank you." She whispered. Those two words caught him off guard.
"It was all you." His lips sightly grazed her ear. The small touch sent shivers down her spine and created a shock of electricity making her feel more than she should, more than she wanted. But the feeling wasn't as big as the pure joy she felt.
"What?!" Alya asked as she got off of Nino's lap. She picked up the file Marinette set on the table. "No way!" Alya jumped. "You got in!" She announced. Marinette turned to the shouting woman.
"I know!" They squeezed each other out of pure joy.
"What?" Nino mumbled to Adrien.
"She's a designer in my last show," Adrien said simply. Nino's eyes widened.
"That's great, M!" Once Marinette was free from Alya's grasp she hugged Nino. All three were talking about how happy they were for Marinette while she kept gushing at the "impossible".
"Did you do this?" Alya asked Adrien. Her eyes asked a different question though. 'Did your feelings get in the way of the program?'
"I'm as shocked as you guys, I knew she could do it though." He made direct eye contact with Marinette. "I'm happy for you. You deserved it."
-.-.-.-
After an hour of talk and watching tv everyone finally got their homemade ice cream. Nutella and cookie dough, one of Marinette's favourites. They picked up random conversations from time to time.
"We have school in two days," Nino said absentmindedly. Everyone groaned.
"Nino!" Marinette scolded.
"Geez, I'm sorry. I'm just saying. We have school after the weekend. Where did the week go?"
"Great you jinxed it now we will be living in slow motion foreveeeerrrr." Adrien exaggerated. The girls threw a pillow at the blonde man, almost knocking his bowl.
"My ice cream!" He screeched. Everyone chuckled.
The young adults enjoyed the time they spent with each other. Sure they saw each other every day but with this life that they lived now, a lot of things were different. They've been daydreaming about it since they were 16. They would laugh at scenario's they made up and the wild parties they thought of. Little did they know that when their fantasies came to life would they be eating ice cream on the couch watching cable tv. It was a normal thing that they all did from time to time. And this was just like the rest, special. They were all together after good news. Content smiles played on their lips. They showed happiness and it was radiating everywhere but some couldn't help but think of other things. Marinette's head couldn't help but over stress the fact that she was a designer in the fashion show and something could go wrong. Adrien wouldn't stop looking at Marinette and each time he did so he felt Alya doing the same. The same curiosity that was eating him alive that morning was doing the same to him now. His stomach twisted and his throat dried. Maybe it wasn't curiosity. Maybe it was a bad feeling he had. Maybe something bad was going to happen.
Marinette stretched her arms and yawned.
"You guys staying here?" She asked.
"Yeah." Nino shrugged but glanced at Alya with a questioning look.
She nodded and rested her head back on Nino's shoulder. After a while, the four young adults descended into their separate rooms. Nino to Alya's, Marinette to her own and Adrien in the guest room. Adrien sat in his room with Plagg sleeping cozily on another pillow. The blonde man just read a book until he thought his kwami had a reasonable amount of sleep. The book was interesting, one of his favourites, 'The Things I Didn't Say'. He thought that the love story between the two characters was a fairytale. A relationship based on pure trust and mystery. It astounded him. He questioned a lot of things in the book, that made him question himself. He asked himself what would he do if he was in that situation? He's asked himself that question each time he read a book. Adrien has read a lot of books, it was almost the only thing he did in his free time. He loved going into someone else's world, a different world, that wasn't his. Although he loved happy endings, he loved cliffhangers even more. They made him think. What would happen? How will the characters deal with this situation? Although he was always infuriated with cliffhangers he loved them none the less.
'People like the world like that, I guess.' Adrien thought as he turned the page. People liked how the world made them feel. 'Hypocrites.' Even though he was one of them. He smiled and said he was Marinette's friend. He was there for her, he was going to be there for her no matter what. But there was nothing friendly about how he felt.
Plagg stirred awake. Adrien closed his book and jumped out of bed. He grabbed a piece of cheese and waited for Plagg to become fully awake.
"Mmm... Cheese." Plagg got up, his eyes still closed. Plagg took the cheese Adrien gave him and started nibbling on it.
"Thanks, Plagg." Adrien smiled at his small friend.
Plagg just kept eating and nodded. Adrien slowly opened his door, making it squeak. Plagg followed closely behind hovering over Adrien's shoulder. Adrien walked out of his room through the hallway and into the space that served as the dining room. He stubbed his toe into a leg of a chair. He cringed and stomped his foot. He slightly limped as he walked all the way to the door of the apartment.
Adrien unlocked the door but turned around to look around the apartment before he opened it and walked out. His bare feet touched the rough cotton of the carpet. He walked all the way up the stairs that were cold tiles. He didn't like the interior of the building. It had blue carpet, brown tiles and red walls. It wasn't that appealing. Adrien opened the door that led to the roof, for some reason it was always unlocked. He stepped out onto the concrete roof, the cold wind hit his chest causing goosebumps to erupt up down his skin.
"Okay kid. It's cold let's do this." Plagg said.
Adrien nodded and transformed into Chat Noir. His exposed arms still felt cold but he was happy that he was mostly covered up.
"How does this work?" He spoke.
"How does what work?" Plagg asked him.
"Remember, that thing about transferring power?"
"You mean giving you full control of the miraculous?" Plagg asked. Their whole conversation in Chat's head. Chat paced the roof, he knew that it was going to take a while to convince his kwami.
"Yes."
"Adrien we spoke about this. If I give you full control there's more of a chance of the miraculous to as well."
"But you also said that I would have complete control and if the miraculous gained its own power I could fight it."
"It's complicated kid, there's no instructions to this." Chat Noir sighed.
"Please?" He begged.
"...Alright." Plagg gave up. A large smile spread across Chat's face.
"Okay, so how does this work? Do I say some words or do I have to do something or...? Plagg?" Chat Noir asked aloud. "Plagg?" Plagg was nowhere to be heard, meaning that Adrien had full control as Chat Noir.
'Here goes nothing.' Chat thought.
Chat Noir jumped the next building in hopes of getting a view of Marinette's room. Sure enough, her glass doors were illuminated by a soft orange glow.
Chat took that as a signal that she was awake. He jumped to her balcony and landed lightly onto the ground. He inhaled deeply and knocked on her glass door. He heard rumbling of bed sheets and things and soon enough Marinette's head popped out behind her curtains. Her eyes widened as she saw the leather cladded hero. She backed away from the curtains no longer in Chat's vision. He slightly deflated but stood there waiting. He heard a click of a handle and took a step back.
Marinette opened the door. She wore black shorts and a white singlet with her hair braided loosely. Chat smiled softly at her.
"Chat." Marinette greeted.
"Purrncess." Chat took a step back and bowed. He looked up through his bangs and smiled. Marinette took a shaky breath.
"What are you doing here?" Chat's smile faltered but he tried his best to flash his pearly whites.
"Can't I see my princess?" He asked. Marinette bit her lip and sighed with her eyes closed. When she opened them again she had a small smile on her face.
"Yeah, of course, you can."
She opened the door wider and walked in, expecting Chat to follow her. And he did, he walked in and looked around the room, even though he's seen it more than once. He looked around for changes. Even though it was around a week since he was last in her room a lot changed.
Pictures were rearranged, some hung and some in different places, notebooks were put somewhere else Chat couldn't see, her little couch that sat in the corner was moved and was now next to the glass doors and desk, a little shelf filled with books was short enough to use as a spare table on top. The space on top of the small bookshelf was occupied with coffee mugs, art supplies and a notebook that looked way to significant and precious to be a casual notebook.
'Probably a journal.' Chat thought. He noticed Marinette was in bed and was staring at him with her laptop on her lap.
So much changed over a week. The week after they almost went all the way. The week after Marinette "confessed". He forgot about what happened in that room. But as he traced over the new change of scenery it all crashed down on him. Marinette didn't have full control, she was under an akuma's power and he took advantage of that.
Marinette could feel the sudden change in his behaviour.
"Are you okay?" She asked in that same sweet tone, the one that was demanding but wasn't intimidating. The one that made you answer any question only because she asked. He loved that tone.
Chat smiled. The same smile that made Marinette swoon, the one that could make her worse days turn upside down and become sunshine and rainbows. He could lighten up her day with only a quirk of his lips. She loved those lips, ones that tasted like lime mixed with brown sugar. Marinette loved the way they looked, the way his lips tasted, the way he smiled.
"I'm fine." Chat replied.
But for some reason, she didn't see a hero who looked like a cat and was dressed in leather. Instead, she saw a blonde boy who had the same green eyes and the same smile. Her heart stopped, she could feel the beating of the muscle slow down slightly and quickly beat again. She heard the sound of her own heart and felt the rhythm. It was shocking, not the feeling of her own heart. What was shocking was that she was in love with Chat Noir, who had the same smile as Adrien Agreste.
"We need to talk." She suddenly spoke.