So here's another oneshot due to sudden inspiration. Also, you can pry the fact the LadyNoir friendship out of my cold, dead hands.
It was a rather disconsolate group of friends sitting in the courtyard of Collège Françoise Dupont, having just seen another confrontation between Marinette and Lila (with Alya trying to mediate) end with Marinette storming away and Lila bursting into tears - Rose and Mylene escorting her to the bathroom so she could calm down before lunch ended.
It was a scene that had went from shocking the first time, to an almost weekly occurrence during lunch. Things between Lila and Marinette seemed to be getting worse and worse, and while most would have taken the obviously distraught girl's side, the thing with Marinette almost getting expelled had shaken the class to the core - though not in the same way. Some of the class - like Alix and Kim - were worried that whatever the issues between Marinette and Lila were, they were getting completely out of control. After all, if they chose a side it meant that either Marinette was capable of pushing a classmate down the stairs, or that their new friend was a malicious liar approaching sociopathic levels.
Some - like Rose and Mylene - had on previous occasions been worried about how close Marinette's interest in Adrien bordered on an unhealthy obsession. They didn't specifically think that she purposefully tried to hurt Lila, but worried that she might have gotten so jealous or angry she acted without thinking.
Others - such as Nathaniel, Ivan and Juleka - remembered how Marinette went out of her way to help those she considered friends, and the idea that she hurt someone on purpose for selfish reasons?
Well, there was a reason none of those three were ever alone with Lila after that day.
Then there were those like Max and Alya, who sometimes sided with the one and sometimes with the other. They treated the whole issue as the oddity it was - for Max a puzzle solve, for Alya a mystery to uncover. Sometimes the things Lila said were just too fantastical, yet sometimes Marinette acted strange or disappeared without reason or excuse.
There were too many problems with each side and too many missing pieces to form a coherent whole.
The rest of the class.. they kept their opinions to themselves. These last few weeks Nino and Adrien had just left as soon as class let out (Nino simply telling Alya he was helping Adrien with something he promised to keep secret), Sabrina rarely spoke up without prompting, and Chloé wasn't one to share her real feelings even before this confusing mess that had left their entire class in a haze of confusion.
Today would be somewhat different; everyone had seen the tension between the two girls build up this week, leading to Alya's mass-text (to their entire class except Lila and Marinette) that if the two were to have another of their massive arguments, everyone who could would meet up at the benches under the large tree that stood in the corner of their school's courtyard at lunch or after school, depending on when the argument took place.
In a stroke of luck, their argument had started just before lunch and had finished faster than usual.. leaving plenty of time for the students to try and figure this mess out.
"So.." started Alya as they all (sans Adrien who was at a photoshoot and hadn't come to school, and Rose and Mylene who went with Lila) gathered on the benches, "Does anyone have any ideas on how we can start to figure this out? Because I'm running out of hope that those two will ever make peace, or even manage to get along long enough to be in the same room without it ending in an argument."
A couple of them shared uncomfortable glances, as if unsure if such a thing was even possible, before Alix spoke up:
"Can we even help them get along better? I was under the impression we still don't even know what their real issue with each other is - every argument is different!"
There were a few grumbles of agreement before Nathaniel interjected softly:
"Then instead of trying to make them get along better without really knowing why they don't, maybe we should try to make sense of how this all started?"
"Well," started Juleka, "I know Rose thinks it has something to do with Marinette being jealous of Lila, but I'm not sure.."
A somewhat awkward, if not outright tense, silence followed a groan from where Alya was sitting with her head in her hands; her entire posture radiating frustration.
"I.. suppose it's possible? Marinette has always wanted to travel, and Lila has already been to so many places in her life..? That's before we even consider the fact that Lila also likes Adrien and seems much better at actually approaching him.. but I don't feel like it's jealousy! I've seen her jealous, especially when it involved him, and it wasn't anything like this!"
"Look Alya, you're her best friend," Kim voiced - causing a slight twitch from the girl which didn't go completely unnoticed - before continuing in a strangely serious tone for the usually boisterous teen, "but how can you be sure she isn't jealous of Lila?"
"Because she's better than that loudmouth in almost every way,"
"Because she no longer has a romantic interest in Adrien,"
The simultaneous replies struck the class dumb; whether it was the comments themselves, the two individuals who said them, or the deadpan tones in which they were said that caused the reactions? Impossible to know, though judging by the exclamations that followed it probably differed from person to person.
Though despite everyone there asking (read: shouting) their questions and opinions, neither Chloé nor Max clarified their statements; merely staring at each other with narrowed eyes, clearly annoyed by the other taking attention away from their dramatic announcement..
The bedlam lasted up until Nino seemingly had enough and let loose a piercing whistle, simultaneously quieting everybody as well as pulling their attention to himself.
"Alright! Chloé, Max we all have a lot of questions - heck I've got about six of my own - but first.. Max. What do you mean Marinette isn't interested in Adrien? She's been crushing on him for almost two years! How sure are you?!"
A few of the other teens shot him a look at his.. almost frantic tone of voice, though Max simply aimed a smug look at Chloé, who merely scoffed in response.
"I am quite certain. There are a several factors behind my reasoning, but my first indication of this was about a month ago. Marinette had asked me if she could borrow a few of my games.. specifically ones not focused on fighting such as Mecha Strike or Mortal Kombat. Slightly odd considering her preferences, and when I asked her about it she claimed that she needed a 'neutral' game to play with a friend to settle a wager; yet her favourite of Mecha Strike, and his favourite of Pokémon, apparently make it too difficult to fairly decide on an ultimate winner of their bet."
He paused here, adjusting his glasses and seeming to use the gesture to get his story straight in his head.
"Naturally I was curious, but when I asked about the friend and their bet she was vague and somewhat dismissive. Which, to be fair, wasn't that abnormal in and of itself. After all, I might not know her friend, the bet itself could be something embarrassing, or she may simply have missed the curiosity in my voice. No, what caught my attention was the hitch in her voice when she called this unknown guy her friend.. as well as how red she blushed upon mentioning this bet. As red as she used to blush when speaking to a certain blonde classmate of ours. Which, incidentally, is the other reason I believe she has moved on - she no longer blushes when speaking to Adrien, and her looks in his direction - when he isn't looking at her - has decreased by almost 78% this last month compared to the start of the year."
Some might say that the silence that followed from learning that a classmate had moved on from her crush would be overly dramatic.. but not this class. Not this crush! It has been a part of their everyday lives for almost two years, an undeniable truth amongst undeniable truths.
Hawk Moth was an asshole.
Ladybug and Chat Noir would save the day.
The sky was blue.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng liked Adrien Agreste.
It's hard to say how long the silence would have lasted, were it not for another completely shocking thing happening: Nino losing his cool.
"Damn.. DAMN! I can't believe this crap! Are we in a bloody sitcom? 'Cause it's either that or the laws of probability seriously hate Adrien!"
At this point not even Chloé could keep her nonchalant aura, and snapped:
"What on Earth is the matter with you? You're acting like Marinette not liking Adrien - utterly ridiculous as it sounds - is some disaster!"
Nino just sighed and looked around, finally settling his eyes back on Chloé.
"You know Adrien's been crushing on some girl he knows from work? The one he almost never brings up but can't shut up about when he does?"
Chloé's only response was raising an eyebrow and motioning for Nino to move on and get to the point.
"Well a few weeks ago he told me about this three month plan.. in order to - and I quote - successfully woo Marinette. Now ignoring my bro's dramatic nature, I can't be the only one to feel there's some cosmic joke involved when it comes to Adrien and Marinette?!"
It took a moment for everyone to realise that not only had Marinette moved on from her crush on Adrien, but apparently Adrien had moved on from a crush on a mystery girl to Marinette - at the worst possible time for them both!
There was a few seconds of silence as everyone just gaped at Nino, before bedlam once again broke out, though it lasted surprisingly shorter than earlier; only until Alix posed a question to Alya which drew the others' attention.
"You're Marinette's best friend, has she ever mentioned this.. other guy Max knows about? I mean Marinette and I aren't exactly close enough to swap secrets at midnight, but I'd have at least expected to hear about him at some point! Unless it's Luka..?" she trailed off, turning a curious glance to his sister.
"It isn't my brother; Marinette told him early on that even if she wasn't crushing on Adrien, there was someone else who she'd give a chance first. He thought she was just trying to let him down gently, but now.." Juleka trailed off.
Taking a deep breath, Alya slowly spoke:
"Marinette has.. mentioned a male best friend before. Usually only when she's too exhausted to watch what she says, or slips up about something he said or liked.. and even then it's only vaguely about what a great person he is or what he likes - never anything personal. Heck, I don't even know his name, his age, or even how she knows him!"
She paused, pursing her lips for a moment before continuing with a small grin:
"I do know he is handsome. Like, cause-Marinette-to-hesitate-handsome the one time I asked if he was as good-looking as Adrien.. and this was in the summer after Adrien did that swimsuit shoot for charity. Let that sink in - Adrien, swimsuit, charity work - you wouldn't believe the kind of mess my girl was that summer.. and she still blushed thinking about this other guy."
"Alright that's it! In the course of the last 15 minutes I have learned that Marinette has a secret male friend of which we know nothing except he's good looking and she is now crushing on him, while conversely now that Marinette is no longer interested in Adrien he has not only started crushing on her but developed a three month plan to ask her out? I now officially vote we move on from this topic, before my head explodes! All those in favour?" Kim suddenly cut in before anybody even had time to process this latest development.
"Aye!"
Nodding his head, Kim turned to Chloé with the clear intention of asking about her earlier comment:
"What the fuck?"
While Alix snorted at his question, Chloé just rolled her eyes.
"I am capable of giving a compliment.. rarely. I may be arrogant, but I'm not delusional - Marinette knows almost as many big name celebrities as I do, without a father who owns the hotel they stay at! Do you not recall Jagged Stone showing up at our class picnic last year asking if she and her family would want to go on his African Safari with him? Or that she designed a dress for Clara Nightingale after her public music video audition? Or the amount of design competitions she's won? The fact that Adrien's father.. well not approves, I don't think he approves of anyone that wasn't vetted by auntie Em, but at least doesn't chase her off as often as most of his other friends..?"
Blank stares and slow blinks were her only answer.
"See, this is exactly why I'm always bragging about my life! If you don't brag about your life, people forget how awesome you are." Chloé finished, crossing her arms and letting a self-satisfied smirk show on her face.
"..Did you just indirectly call Marinette awesome?"
Until Nathaniel asked that question, and now she was blushing.
Elsewhere, a certain blond haired teen was standing somewhat flustered in an out-of-the-way fabric store and wishing his father had spent more time discussing the designing aspect of his career, rather than tips on modelling when he first started out and business now that he was older.
He supposed that's what he got for wanting to be like his parents - when he was six and learned his mother used to be a model, he went through a phase where he wanted to be just like her.
He might have grown out of it, as children tend to do, had he not then learned his father was a model for a short time as well. As a somewhat lonely child who loved both his parents dearly, this only locked his desire to be a model in completely (at the time he still wasn't exactly sure what models did, but both his parents had done it so he would too).
It was how his parents had first met, working on a shoot for Chloé's mother - though admittedly his father had only done it in order to be able to afford better materials during his early days starting out as a designer.
He supposed he could have asked his father for advice, except then he'd likely have to explain why he wanted to know - and frankly, telling his father he was trying to impress a girl he liked? Not high on his priority list.
Not that he thought he would disapprove of Marinette - but he wasn't sure his father would approve either. Considering he was barely a week into his three month plan (thank you Cody, but six months is way too long), he needed as little trouble as possible.
That being said.. it didn't help his current predicament. He knew this store was smaller than most, but he had specifically heard his father tell Nathalie a month or two ago to make a note of it due to their superior quality. Still, knowing this store was better than others didn't really mean much when it came to what to buy..
Should he buy a lot of one material? A few large pieces of their most popular fabrics? How much was a lot even? What if he bought a fabric she loved, but not enough of it for Marinette to do anything with? Or what if he bought too much of a fabric that she hates, and now it just took up space in her room since Marinette isn't the type to just throw anything away for no reason?
"Hey Plagg," he asked with his phone to his ear (something Ladybug had told him was helpful when they needed to speak to their kwami in public), "do you think it would be too much if I got her about two meters of everything..?"
The kwami, who was currently hiding under the hat Adrien wore to obscure his identity, answered back:
"Just - remind me again, why couldn't you get Pig-Tails flowers like any normal guy..? And don't say it's part of the plan! I know it's part of the plan - I have, against my will, memorised the plan due to you constantly repeating it in mind-numbing detail! I'm asking, why is it part of the plan?"
Adrien frowned.
"Ruben, Henry, Catrina, Jacob, Luka and Nathaniel."
Adrien could practically hear Plagg counting to ten in his head, before whisper-shouting:
"What?!"
Rolling his eyes at Plagg not realising the obvious, Adrien responded:
"Those are all people who have at some point given Marinette flowers when asking her out or confessing their feelings within the last year - all of them rejected. She clearly doesn't see flowers as enough of a romantic gesture to take someone seriously, so I need to do better!"
Adrien could have sworn he heard him mutter something about always picking the dense ones, but ignored it in favour of asking again if Plagg thought his idea was too much too soon.
"Oh no, I'm sure that spending that much money on one girl for no particular reason won't make your crush obvious at all. Now let me take a nap in peace."
Unfortunately for Plagg, he forgot that this particular chosen was not only dense.. but tended to be sarcasm-oblivious as well.
Marinette heard Tikki giggle as she sneezed for what had to be the seventh time since their lunch break had started, and actually felt a bit worried - either she was coming down with something, or someone was talking about her a lot.
Considering she once again got into a very public argument with Lila earlier, she almost hoped for the former. This whole mess with Lila was exhausting her.. For a while she had tried to keep quiet and just do damage control.. but she couldn't keep it up.
And yet every time she confronted Lila it turned into a case of emotional manipulation - tears, sobbing and acting oblivious!
These were generally followed within a week by Lila cornering her and giving out her usual threats - which were frankly getting old. There had been exactly one instance in which Lila had tried to escalate things into physical abuse - in the form of a slap and a vindictive smirk - which had lasted the two seconds it took Marinette to process it (did she just - she did - uhh, no!) and respond with a fist to her jaw.
That had caught Lila so off guard she hadn't managed to turn the action against Marinette. Despite appearances, she was certain it had intimidated the lying girl a lot more than she let on.
So much so that Lila had backed off from lying for around two weeks, which was how long it took her to realise that while Marinette could (and would!) end any physical confrontation on her terms, she wouldn't strike at Lila first.
Perhaps she would have been able to deal with the effort better if she didn't have to handle it alone, but her options were rather.. limited. The only people she would consider telling were Alya, Adrien and Chat Noir - all three of them out of the question for various reasons.
Alya was already relatively close to Lila, and while she'd never believe the negative things she said about Marinette, the fact that Lila had gotten Alya an interview with one of her journalistic idols meant she didn't believe Marinette about everything Lila lied about either - Marinette had actually done a spit-take when she found out that the one famous person Lila did know was her friend's role-model.. though she supposed a political journalist knowing an ambassador wasn't that surprising.
Adrien would definitely be willing to help her, and though he had advised taking the high road he wasn't aware of Lila's more.. malicious lies (which she made certain to never make in front of too many people, usually under the guise of an 'important secret'). That being said, his willingness to help her would easily be turned against him by Lila. It wouldn't even be that hard - a few dangers raised to his extremely overprotective father about the gold-digging classmate with an interest in the fashion world befriending his son?
Sadly, that wasn't even an exaggeration of her admittedly worst-case-inclined mind, but something Lila had already threatened to do. And for all that Gabriel Agreste was protective of his son, he wasn't nearly as involved in his life as he should be - and therefore had no idea about how much his son's friends cared for him.
Marinette sighed, patting Tikki on the head when the little kwami nuzzled her cheek.
Which left.. Chat Noir. The one she admittedly wanted to talk to the most.. yet was out of the question for a whole bunch of reasons - secret identities not being the least among them. She'd always considered him a close friend, even with the secrecy, and somewhere along the line he had moved up to being her best friend.
Nothing against Alya, but the whole trust-each-other-with-our-lives thing really helped the pair grow closer.
A lot closer than expected - it was almost absurdly easy to fall for the boy behind the mask. She knew very well the only reason it had taken as long as it had was due to being both somewhat star-struck by her feelings for Adrien, and a certain amount of stubbornness about giving up on her first crush without ever telling him how she felt.
Yet it was exactly because they had grown closer, that she realised how over-protective her partner could be at times.. which would not end well for Lila. Not to mention how vague she would have to keep everything since they had dealt with Lila a multitude of times, and Chat Noir had spoken to her as Marinette quite a few times.
She frowned, thinking of the times Chat Noir had dropped by recently.
Ever since she had acknowledged her feelings for him, she'd had a sort of nervous excitement every time they met and so was usually too happy when he arrived to really think about it too much, but why had he been stopping by more frequently to visit Marinette these last few weeks..?
She shook her head.
Regardless, Chat Noir was out of the question.
She had a secret identity to protect.
If she came to him with her problems, they would either be in terms so vague he might jump to all the wrong conclusions.. or they could accidentally out Ladybug as Marinette.
Unless..
Unless she told him that first.
Back at the Collège Françoise Dupont, the group of friends had become markedly calmer; their impromptu meeting had let quite a few shocking things come to light, but wasn't that helpful with regards to actually solving the conflict between Marinette and Lila. They had spent the last 10 minutes (ever since the last of their shock had dissipated) brainstorming ideas to fix things between them, with no clear solutions becoming apparent.
Alya sighed, listening with half an ear to what Ivan was saying - he was a surprisingly good study of people's personalities, though she supposed he would have to be if he was interested in psychology as a career.
"..know that Marinette isn't jealous, it almost makes it worse. Now that we know it isn't jealousy, it's obvious that Marinette truly believes that Lila is a malicious liar - which means all these arguments with Lila? That's Marinette trying to protect her friends.. does anyone here believe there's a chance of convincing her to back off?"
There were a some mutters of agreement at that; Marinette could be a bit odd, or even flaky at times, but there was very few things she wouldn't do for her friends.. and thinking back on the time she stole Adrien's phone or the whole debacle leading up to Juleka being akumatised, what she would be willing to do didn't exactly stop at what was legal.
Nino had told her it was one of the reasons why he had never confided in Marinette about exactly how absent he believed Adrien's father was from his life - she wouldn't do her career any favours by punching a fashion mogul in the face, and her petite friend was a surprisingly punch-happy individual, considering her otherwise sweet personality.
"Another issue," she heard Ivan continue, "is that I think Lila wanted to be good friends with Marinette, at least when she started here. They have pretty similar interests - even if Marinette prefers fashion designing and Lila being a fashion model, the shared interest is there - and they both know a lot of the same celebrities! So Marinette's behaviour is making Lila want to lash out in return and.. it's just a never-ending cycle."
Finally speaking up, she said: "If we could just prove to Marinette that she has the wrong idea about Lila, I know she'd apologise! You guys know her, she can admit she was wrong.. Heck, the day she met Adrien she completely laid into him after thinking he was the one who put gum on her seat, and look how that turned out! The thing is, she'd only apologise if she really believed it, otherwise her stubbornness would never let her back down."
"Yeah well that's easier said than done - are we just supposed to hope Marinette is there the next time Lila meets Prince Ali? Or that Lila is somehow nearby the next time Jagged Stone drops by to visit Marinette? The odds of that are negative zero!" Kim responded.
"Actually that's not statist..-" Max started, before being cut off by a look from Alix, "..though it doesn't really matter that much, I guess.." he trailed off morosely.
There was a soft murmur as their group splintered into smaller pairs and trios, still trying to solve the issue.
Until Juleka, who had been texting someone ever since Ivan had finished sharing his opinion on why the Marinette-Lila problem had gotten so bad, spoke up.
"Actually.. Prince Ali does have another charity event near Paris, and Rose has been trying to arrange for him to make a day stop here on his way back.. you know, for the surprise birthday party she's arranging for Lila? And if we can get someone like Jagged Stone or Clara Nightingale to perform there as well - it would not only prove that Lila knew them, but make the party so much better!"
While Alya agreed with the idea in principle, she also knew the only people who could pull it off would be Lila and Marinette (who for obvious reasons couldn't be asked), and Chloé who.. could be very unpredictable.
Even before Chloé started to make a serious effort to be nicer, she was just as easily prone to doing something ridiculously nice for someone as try to ridicule them - the same week she tried to steal Marinette's design for Gabriel's contest, she had also paid for their class to go on a private trip to a lesser known but popular Victorian art gallery (which she only knew because Marinette's designs had taken on a distinct theme for a few weeks afterwards).
She had barely turned towards Chloé in order to ask if she would be willing to help, which gave her a only split second to register the strange look on the blonde's face, before it was replaced with her usual smug smile.
"That is a great idea, Juleka! Tell Rose to text me later - I think I'll be able to convince Daddiekins to let us use the smaller ballroom for the party. In fact, there should still be enough time left of lunch for me to head to call him, so if you'll excuse me.."
Alya wasn't sure what her ominous feeling was about exactly, but she trusted this version of Chloé enough to not suspect the worst. Most of the akumas Chloé caused lately had to do with her rather brash and blunt personality, rather than any real attempt to hurt someone.
Just after she had decided she needed to ask Chloé about what she was planning, her attention was grabbed by Max asking her a question.
"Lila has been a decent friend these last few months; I would like to give her some sort of gift, yet do not feel I know her well enough to choose something appropriately meaningful. I have considered reaching out to several of the people Lila has helped over the years, and constructing a sort of video-thank-you card, where they could share how much she has meant to them. It will also have the added bonus of proving she does not lie about everything Marinette believes. I would like your assistance in this matter. Why you may ask? Because your interest in both the well-being of Marinette and Lila gives you motive, as well as journalistic interest would make you of great assistance in tracking down the individuals in this matter."
As Chloé left her line of sight, Alya shook her head as if to throw off her lingering doubts, and turned to Max with a smile.
"Sure Max! I think your idea is a bit strange, but I'm sure they'll both appreciate it! This party is going to be great!"
As she swung towards their arranged meeting place, Ladybug felt like her stomach was tied up in knots. It had nothing to do with the speed or the height at which she was moving; she had grown comfortable with that aspect of her hero-identity long ago.
Rather, it was all down to nervousness about what she was about to do - about what might happen tonight.
She had been aware that her feelings for Chat Noir had been steadily changing over time, and had fully accepted that she was now in love with her partner for around a month. Truthfully, she wasn't really sure what to do about it - she wasn't sure it was fair to acknowledge her feelings for Chat Noir before she could fully claim to be over Adrien.
The uncertainty had been giving her sleepless nights, but just yesterday she had gotten into another raging argument with Lila. She usually knew to pick her arguments better (it had reached a point where she had to let things slide if she couldn't prove otherwise), but the girl had been wearing a scarf and heavily implied that it was to cover up kiss marks..
Which was fine.
Marinette truly didn't care what people did in their relationships.. but then the Italian menace had made several comments that seemed to imply the reason that Chat Noir was never seen on certain days was due to him visiting her.
She.. had not reacted well.
Especially considering he was actually watching movies with her! Which she of course couldn't bring up, which made her seem like an obsessed fan.. at least until the scarf had slipped, and shown no marks of every kind, which had cast doubt onto her story.
Still, it had solidified her intentions.
She was going to confess tonight, and (she hoped) it would soon be known that either Chat Noir and Ladybug were dating, or even Chat Noir and Marinette. Honestly, she wasn't that hung up on the details, since if everything went well..
Tonight they would learn each other's identities.
..or so she hoped.
Seeing her destination up ahead, she made a quick motion with her Yo-yo and landed easily on the rooftop - the building was a favourite of theirs, as it's only defining characteristic was the fact that it stood higher than any of the nearby buildings, had no roof access, and the roof could not be seen from the street.
Yet as soon as she saw Chat Noir look up and smile at her, her heart clenched - she wasn't exactly sure how she knew (be it his posture, his expression, or something more abstract) but it was immediately clear something was wrong.
"Chat, what's wrong..?" she asked, moving closer and taking a seat on the ledge next to him.
His smile held for a second or two more, before faltering as he let out a sigh.
"Am I truly so transparent, my Lady?" he asked in a vaguely amused tone.
"No.. but masks or no, we have known each other for years - saving the city and kicking butt, Chaton. I like to think that makes us a bit closer than most people," she responded with a smile, despite her earlier nerves, "now will you tell me what's bothering you?"
He took a moment, seemingly gathering his thoughts as they looked out over the city they protected.
"Two years," he started softly, "two years, I've been in love with the same girl. I've been on a few dates here and there, but on the whole.. no one could really compare to you, Ladybug."
How had she convinced herself his flirting was insincere, those first few months? And how had she ignored his affections all those months afterwards?
A rhetorical, question really.
Really damn badly, considering her current feelings.
"And then.. out of nowhere, I realised this girl I've considered one of my best friends, has been so much more for I don't even know how long!" he said, and she was glad he was staring out over the city - it gave her a precious few minutes to compose her expression from the heartbreak she knew it must be showing.
A part of her had known he had moved on - his attempts to ask her out, or even over the top flirtations, had been growing less and less over time. She had almost managed to convince herself that he was simply hiding his feelings better.. but it seemed she had missed her chance.
"So.. what's the problem then..?" she asked, and was proud of the way her voice remained steady despite the emotions raging inside her.
Rather than respond immediately, he flopped down onto his back, kicking his legs out the edge, and let out a groan.
"I.. so this girl, she's extremely well liked, popular - I mean none of that is why I like her, but I just mean I'm far from the only person interested in her, right?"
Ladybug remained quiet, sensing this was just part of his story.
"Anyway, that meant I needed to.. stand out? Somehow? Now my best friend," he paused here, looking at her.
"Best civilian friend - no offense to him, but you have saved my life more times than I can count. That spot is forever yours," he said dramatically, and his antics drawing a laugh from her, regardless of the mood that had settled over her.
'Why does he have to be so charming?' she asked in her mind, before saying:
"And you will always be my best friend, mon Chaton.. now get on with your story!" she scolded jokingly.
At least she hoped that's how he took it - but she needed to hear everything now, because she wasn't sure she could maintain her composure should this discussion need to last multiple conversations.
"As you wish.. where was I? Oh yeah - so my best friend kind of grew up with this girl. They weren't super close, but they'd been in the same classes for years, you know?"
She hummed - it sounded like a similar friendship to that between her and Nino - somehow, they'd always wound up in the same class, ever since elementary school!
"Anyway, he's been helping me work on a three month plan to woo her - stop laughing at me, my Lady, I can see your shoulders shaking! - and then yesterday I had to miss the first half of school for family reasons.. he took me aside later though, apparently I had missed an.. interesting conversation at school.." he trailed off.
When it became clear he had gotten lost in his thoughts, she said:
"Chat?"
He shook his head as if to dispel an unpleasant memory.
"So.. apparently, she's in love with someone else."
Ladybug suppressed a wince. Even before tonight's heartbreak, she remembered first hearing about Adrien's mystery girl from work that he was in love with - it had not been a pleasant realisation.
"On top of that," he continued, "nobody seems to know who this guy is! What if he's a creep? Or an asshole? I mean I don't think she'd fall for someone like that, but I still worry.. still, she could probably kick anybody's ass that needed it.." he trailed off in an odd tone.
She nodded along; she understood that. One of the worst parts about knowing about Adrien's secret crush was that she had no idea who it was - he was so sweet, and a little naïve.. what if the girl had tried to take advantage of him?!
"..she could probably kick my ass too," she heard Chat Noir mutter, before his eyes suddenly snapped open.
"Oh kwami, I have a thing for girls who could kick my butt, don't I? Am I a masochist..? Is this because of my issues with my father..?" he ranted to himself.
Ladybug felt a laugh bubble out of her; because how else was she supposed to react to Chat's apparent moment of self-discovery? Well.. there was the small part that wanted to go home and cry about missed chances, but she wouldn't leave him alone with his heartbreak.
As the sound of her laughter drifted away into the night, they sat together in companionable quiet, simply listening to the sounds of the city.
She wasn't sure how long it had been, when Chat broke the moment with a despondent sigh.
Raising his hands to his face, he pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes as if to ward off a headache.
"You know the worst part about all of this? My friend told me this girl - this adorable, inspiring, girl - had had feelings for me for almost two years! I missed my chance by.. well, I'm not really sure, a month I guess? Imagine falling for someone just as they move on from their feelings for you? That has got to be some Black Chat Miraculous Bad Luck right there. I swear, there was nothing in the superhero fine-print about being jinxed!"
Ladybug felt herself stare at her partner in disbelief.
'Did he really just..' she thought, before letting out a sad chuckle.
"I don't think that's it, Chaton.."
Turning so that he was laying on his side, he rested his head on his hand and gave her a questioning look, clearly looking for an explanation.
"I don't think it's some bad-luck part of your miraculous - because the same thing happened to me, and mine is supposed to be the embodiment of good look."
"I'm sorry to hear it, bugaboo - it really kind of sucks, doesn't it? Do you mind if I ask you when it happened?" he asked, and oh kwami now she was blushing.
Could she tell him?
Should she tell him?
"Oh you know," she started, trying to go for a casual reveal, like she wasn't bearing her heart to her best friend who was in love with someone else, "about.. 20.. 30 minutes ago?" she finished, pursing her lips and hoping her blush wasn't as clear as it felt.
The casual tone seemed to have worked - or at least, it took Chat a few minutes to process the words.. but when he did, she burst into giggles again. She didn't mean to, but she had never seen him look so.. flabbergasted.
His entire body went slack, his jaw dropped, and his eyes went comically wide - he held that same look as he sat up, and turned to look out over the city.
"Oh," came his strangled response, and she had to bite her lip to prevent another giggle escaping.
'I've always wondered how he might react if I actually returned his feelings, but really Chat? I didn't expect a complete shut down! Well.. maybe a slight shut down if I kissed him, but still!'
"I feel like I owe you an apology," came his voice, though she was confused about the tone of realisation he had.
"No Chat, we can't help who we fall in love with.." she started, only to pause as he seemed to startle and look back at her.
"No, not that.. I mean, yeah, that too, but.." he said as he ran a clawed hand through his hair.
She looked at him in confusion - she wasn't really sure what he was trying to say, but everything about him at this moment seemed to convey a sense of restlessness.
Finally, he let out a huff and looked back at her seriously.
"I'm sorry for bringing up my feelings as often as I did - if this is what you felt like when you had to tell me you were still in love with the guy from your class.." he trailed off, sending her a sad smile, "it.. kind of really sucks."
She blinked at him, before adopting the same kind of sad smile herself - because yeah, it really did suck. Especially after Glaciator, when she couldn't even try to deny the connection she felt with him - but she had chosen to remain focused on her feelings for Adrien.
'Still felt like needles to my heart every time I had to reject his own feelings,' she thought, somewhat miserably, 'and it was so much worse since I know it was more timing than anything else!'
They sat there thinking for a while, before Ladybug pulled her legs up to her chest, rested her head on her knees, and leaned to the side to give him a nudge with her shoulder. As he turned to look at her, she said:
"So, come on, Chat. I know you - tell me about this girl. You've certainly listened to me gushing about the boy I liked often enough; let me return the favour."
He looked at her uncertainly for a bit, before slowly smiling.
"Ah, where do I even start, my Lady? For one thing, I almost certainly have a type - she reminds me a lot of you, actually. She's our everyday Ladybug," he said, shooting her an unrepentant grin, "and believe me - that's the highest compliment I could give."
She felt a scorching blush overtake her cheeks, but valiantly stayed quiet and motioned for him to go on.
"She's.. kind. And sweet. We didn't get off on the best of terms due to a misunderstanding the day we met, but I'm pretty sure we moved beyond that - still, rocky start aside, our friends started dating pretty soon so we kind of defaulted to spending a lot of time together. She used to be so shy around me - guess I know why now - but don't let that fool you, she can be fearless. I've never seen her back down from a challenge, and she's willing to do so much for her friends! She's immensely talented too; I mean even my father approves of her.. or, well. Maybe. He's kind of hard to read, but at the least he doesn't seem to dislike her as much as my other friends..?" he trailed off uncertainly, and she snorted. She had heard stories about Chat's mysterious father.
Shaking his head, he continued on:
"Not to mention she's beautiful! You know that cliché about a smile lighting up a room? I'm not so sure about that being true, but at the very least just seeing it makes you feel better - and her laugh! Just hearing it makes you want to keep causing it over and over again. Her eyes are these deep blue colour.. I've always thought they reminded me of a clear moonless night, sparkling stars and all, though others claim it's the colour of a deep blue sea - but personally I think they just latched onto that description because of her name.. Marinette. It means 'Of the sea', you know?"
She froze.
Did he mean her?
Wait, no. Marinette wasn't a particularly uncommon name - there could be dozens of Marinettes in the city.
She let out a sigh.
'What were the chances that he meant me, specifically?' she thought glumly.
She frowned.
What were the chances, actually?
She stood suddenly, and started pacing, her mind running over dozens of little things.
Coincidences, timings, little things that didn't fit - it felt like she suddenly had all the puzzle pieces to a mystery she didn't know she was trying to solve. What were the chances that both she and Chat Noir admitted their feelings for someone else, just as that person fell for them? What were the chances that his civilian crush shared her name..? And suddenly she felt bombarded by flashes of memories - things that had seemed inconsequential at the time, yet now were coming together like one of her Lucky Charm plans.
Tikki's insistence that everything will work out, when she confessed her split feelings for Chat and Adrien.
Adrien never being akumatised - the only other person in their class, besides herself.
Chat Noir stopping by to visit Marinette more often these last few weeks.
Adrien's secrecy about the girl he liked from 'work'.
Oblivio! She had spent ages wondering how she could fall for Chat so easily, how they became so close so quick.. but what if they both thought they were already together? If Adrien was Chat, then he almost certainly had as many pictures of Ladybug on his phone as she had of Adrien..
She noticed Chat (Adrien..?) had followed her to the centre of the roof, and was standing by a little nervously - her behaviour must seem strange to him.
The only thing that didn't fit, was Adrien's comments about Marinette's mysterious crush - she hadn't spoken to anybody about moving on from Adrien, because she had no way to explain being in love with Chat Noir.
Then she blushed a little, remembering she wasn't exactly the best at hiding her feelings. Her heart was beating faster and faster, and she was starting to be overcome by a nervous excitement.
What if she was right?
What if she was wrong?
..but if she was right..
Taking a deep breath, she confidently stepped towards Chat Noir, as close as she could without actually touching him.
"Chat.. I want to tell you about the boy I liked," she started, and she saw confusion reflected on his face, before he nodded slowly.
"So.. his name is Adrien," she started, and she was encouraged and delighted by the way his eyes widened in surprise.
"And I fell for him.. oh, around two years ago? He was kind, and handsome, and as I came to know him better - a huge dork!" she said, and prepared herself - there would be no going back after this.
"And the reason Marinette.. the reason I moved on from my feelings for him.. was because I could no longer deny my feelings for my partner.. my best friend, who always had my back.. I had to admit, that as much as I cared for Adrien, I loved Chat Noir more," she finished, feeling like her heart was trying to beat out of her chest.
Taking a fortifying breath, she let her transformation fall, and said:
"And I really hope that it's you behind that mask, Adrien."
There was a second where she couldn't read his expression - a second that seemed to last a lifetime - before a green flash hit her eyes, and Adrien was standing before her with a delighted grin on his face.
"Adrien," she started, her voice hoarse with relief, and joy, and —
And then she felt his arms wrap around her waist, and then he was lifting her up, and kissing her, and spinning her around. She kissed him back (of course she did, she had been waiting years for this) but eventually pulled back with a laugh as he seemed to have no intention of putting her down.
"Adrien! Calm down!" she scolded with a laugh, and he looked at her with disbelief.
"Calm down? You want me to calm down?" he asked incredulously, before throwing his head back and letting out an excited 'Whoop' that echoed through the night.
"Chat!" she rebuked him, lightly slapping the back of her hand against his chest. He gave her a remorseless grin, clearly not regretting his actions at all.
"So you're.. happy? With me being.. me?" she asked softly, old insecurities coming to the fore.
"Happy?" he asked, looking at her in disbelief.
"I'm jubilant! Euphoric! Elated! Bugaboo, to merely describe what I'm feeling as 'Happy'.. it's like.. describing Everest as 'tall'! Or the ocean as 'big'!" he all-but-ranted, before taking her hand and raising it to his lips.
"..Or yourself, as 'pretty' - while they are all technically true, only a fool would settle for something so simple, my Lady."
She felt a burst of confidence at his words, seeing how much his feelings reflected her own, and she wound her arms around his neck.
"You know Chaton," she started cutely, enjoying the way he gulped at her tone, "my parents are out of the city for the night - do you want to come over? We've got years of wasted time to make up for.." she trailed off, before kissing him again.
There you have it! Please feel free to leave a review if you enjoyed.. I may write a part two with fall-out and confusion if there's interest, but otherwise I'll leave it here.