Marinette felt like her brain was going to explode from how fast she was thinking. She was making up crazy reasons for why Adrien would ask her on a date. Basic, boring, Marinette. He had to of figured out she is Ladybug, right? There's no other explanation for why he would ask her out.
She was cut off from her thoughts by Adrien, who looked down at her with a worried frown. "Marinette, you feeling okay?" He asked, squeezing her clammy hand.
Marinette jumped slightly, causing Adrien to let out a small laugh. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking." She reassured him, although she didn't sound so convincing.
Adrien furrowed his eyebrows as he examined her, not really believing her. He shrugged his shoulders and left it alone, it being obvious she didn't want to talk about it. They continued the walk in silence, the air thick with tension. He knew something was bothering her yet he had no way of knowing what. "Is here okay?" Adrien asked, stopping at a spot under a tree. Marinette nodded her head with a smile as he finally let go of her hand to lay down the picnic blanket.
Marinette couldn't help but laugh at the checkered blanket, finally seeming to relax a little. "That is so cliché." She spoke between her giggles, sitting cross-legged on the blanket as Adrien took out the food next to her.
After taking out all the food, he sat down next to Marinette. "What, it's cute!" He spoke with a laugh before sticking his tongue out at her, playfully. "I made a couple sandwiches and I have some slices of watermelon, it'll probably be nothing compared to your parents cooking though." Adrien admitted, scratching the back of his neck, shyly.
Marinette gave him a small, reassuring smile. "I'm sure it'll be great." She told him, taking a sandwich from the tupperware container.
For the most part, they ate in silence, only talking every once in awhile when Adrien tried to break the tension. It never worked, Marinette couldn't stop her mind from worrying, feeling like her head was going to explode from all the thinking. Finally, after nearly finishing their meal, he snapped. "Seriously, Marinette. What's wrong." He burst out, placing his hand on top of hers in attempt to help her speak.
It only made her more nervous.
Marinette took in a deep breath, like she was preparing to tell him something big, only resulting in making Adrien anxious. "I just... I'm having trouble believing this is real..." She started, pausing to see Adrien's reaction. He looked like he was about to speak, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she quickly cut him off. "I don't think you really like me... Maybe the idea of me, but not the real me." She added, biting her lip afterwards in an attempt to keep her emotions at bay.
"Marinette, what are you talking about?" Adrien asked, frowning after she pulled her hand away from his. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, the rejection hitting him hard. He began to panic as he watched her shove her things back into her bag, looking about ready to run away.
"I just can't believe that a guy like you would like basic, boring, Marinette." Marinette admitted, gesturing to him and then to her as she stood up. Adrien let out a sigh of relief, realising she wasn't rejecting him because she didn't like him but because of her own insecurities.
"Marinette, I-" He began, ready to pour his heart out onto why she was wrong, but he was quickly cut off. The pair turned to look at a older looking woman screaming at a girl that looked to be around their age. The girl looked messy and tired, wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. Her hair was styled into the popular fringe and her bags under her eyes were almost as dark as her hair. Her skin looked ghostly, like she was sick. The only colour on her was her bright purple necklace.
"You couldn't at least try and dress up for this?" The woman screamed, causing a scene. The younger girl cringed, taking a step away. "You know how important this is to the family! I just wish you could be more like your sister." The woman gave the girl a long glare before stomping away.
"I hate people like that." Marinette hissed, watching as tears filled the poor girl's eyes. Adrien agreed, nodding his head as they watched the poor girl run out of the park, the opposite direction the woman left.
Marinette turned back to Adrien as she rubbed at her neck, awkwardly. "Anyways, back to what I was saying." He started, straightening his shirt just to do something with his hands. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I like you. All of you. And i'll admit, before last week, I never really noticed you... And i'm sorry for that. But these past couple days... They've probably been the best days of my life. Spending this time with you, with someone I know won't judge me and accepts me for who I am, puns and all... I'd love to get to know you even better and maybe, if you want, be more than just friends..."
Marinette stared up at Adrien with wide eyes and a open mouth. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, tightening with his words. How was she supposed to respond to something like that? She fought the urge to run away as the thoughts of him finding out she was Ladybug still lingered in her mind.
"So, what do you sa-" Adrien was cut off once more, resulting in him letting out a frustrated groan. His eyes widened as he watched a large creature stomp into the park, walking on its gigantic front paws. The monster's legs were much smaller, their feet dangled in the air, much too short to reach the ground. The monster's torso was only a black spine, disappearing under the cropped shirt the monster wore. Adrien gasped after seeing the monsters face, the girl from before, this time with razor sharp fangs leaving her mouth and dark grey horns coming from her head. "Another akuma? Two in one day? Marinette, run!"
Adrien turned to join Marinette but she was already halfway towards her bakery, causing him to sigh in relief. At least it would be easy for him to get away from her to transform. "Plagg, claws out!" He whispered from behind a tree.
Meanwhile, Ladybug was already running towards the akuma, helping people evacuate even when they were already running and screaming. She never saw an akuma so deadly and violent before, destroying benches and trees in the park with her massive paws. She knew Hawkmoth wanted their miraculous but she never knew how far he would actually go to get them.
"Ladybug! Do you know where her akuma is?" Chat Noir asked, landing beside her. Ladybug shook her head as she watched the large monster destroy everything in its path. "I've never seen an akuma that hurts before." He spoke absentmindedly, looking at the monster with wide eyes. Sure, there had been akuma's attempting to hurt them, but with this one it seemed all of it's attacks would be violent.
"Nightmare..." Ladybug spoke, just above a whisper. Chat almost didn't hear her, but it was clear that's what she decided to name it. "It's in her necklace." She added, nodding firmly as she started to form a plan in her head. "This isn't going to be easy. Chat, you ready?' She asked, standing up from her crouched position.
Chat nodded firmly before he stood, getting ready to pounce towards the akuma. "Wait!" Ladybug started, grabbing onto his wrist to stop him from moving. Chat looked at her with a curious frown. "Just... Be careful." She warned, hand finally leaving his wrist as she gave him one last worried frown. She was swinging away before he could snap himself out of his shock.
Ladybug and Chat Noir landed a couple metres away from Nightmare, baton and yo-yo out and ready for whatever the monster was going to throw at them. "Purr-haps you should just hand over your miraculous while you can." Chat suggested, leaning against his baton with his usual cocky attitude. Ladybug rolled her eyes.
Nightmare stomped her gigantic feet into the ground before letting out a loud roar, mouth opening to reveal her crooked sharp teeth. "Thank god, she hates your puns too." Ladybug laughed, although there was no attitude in her voice.
Chat was about to answer, with no doubt another pun, but the akuma started to charge towards them, claws leaving deep marks in the ground behind her. "Ladybug, jump!" Before she could react, she was thrown to the side by her partner. The pair lay on the ground next to each other as the akuma slowed down and turned towards them. "C'mon!" The duo jumped to their feet with their weapons ready.
Ladybug spun her yo-yo around in circles before throwing it at the akuma, hitting it hard in the head. With a swift pull, her yo-yo came right back to her hand. Nightmare shook her head viciously before growling at her, charging forwards. "Chat, you go for the miraculous while I keep her busy!" She yelled as she began to run away, planning on circling around the park.
As Ladybug used her yo-yo to swing from tree to tree, Chat got comfortable on a lamp post, waiting for the perfect time to attack. Ladybug was on her way towards him, a confident smile on her face, when the akuma began to catch up. "Ladybug, hurry!" Chat screamed, panic in his voice as he watched Nightmare gain on her.
It was like slow-motion, watching her throw her yo-yo. Before she even threw it, Chat knew it wouldn't be fast enough. "Ladybug!" He screamed, voice echoing in his ears as he jumped across lamp posts to get to her. Her yo-yo was wrapping around the thick branch of a tree when the akuma's claws dug through her back, slicing through her suit and skin. The monster's paw was meant to crush her, but landed short.
With a growl, Chat jumped onto the monster's back, claws digging deep into the girl's shoulder as it tried to buck her off. "Lucky charm!" Chat watched as a bottle of hairspray landed in her hands. She shrugged, before tossing it to Chat. He sprayed the bottle into the akuma's face, jumping off when Ladybug threw her yo-yo around the akuma's legs. With a small tug, the akuma fell to the ground. Chat was quick to rip the necklace from her neck, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it.
Ladybug caught the akuma with her yo-yo with precision, watching it fly off as she picked up the bottle of hairspray. It burned to bend over and pick it up. She could hear Chat rushing over as she threw the bottle into the air, the swarm of ladybugs flying out to fix the city.
"Ladybug!" Chat was at her side quickly, examining her already fixed suit. The blood soaking through her suit was barely noticeable against the red and black.
"It's not that bad..." Ladybug huffed, back slouched slightly as she shook from the sharp pain rushing up her spine. "I should be able to make it home fine." She added, cringing as she felt the blood rolling down her back. She could practically feel Chat rolling his eyes.
"You know I won't let that happen." Chat spoke with a scoff, wrapping one of Ladybugs arms around him for support. "You need to see a doctor." He added, ignoring the sound of her earring beeping.
Ladybug looked at him with wide eyes before violently shaking her head. "I can't! They'll know who I am!" She fought back, flinching as her head began to throb from the movement. "You know this fight will be posted everywhere, right?" She added, opening an eye to look at Chat's worried expression.
"Well, I can't just leave you like this!" He gestured to her as he spoke, clearly irritated as his eyebrows furrowed. He let out a frustrated sigh as he examined the marks on her back. He couldn't just leave her to find her way home. It was clear she could need stitches and something to disinfect the wound. "We could find somewhere safe where I could patch you-"
"Just take me to your house." Ladybug interrupted after letting out a long sigh. Chat looked like he was about to ask her about keeping their identities secret, but Ladybug interrupted. "I know who you are." She admitted, the words falling out of her lips without a second thought. Deep down, she knew it would all be easier if he just knew.
Chat's eyes widened as his mouth fell open in shock, stumbling with his words as he thought of a response. Eventually, his features sharpened as he realised this wasn't really the time and the place to be discussing this, and he lifted her up like she weighed nothing. Ladybug let out a surprised squeal before Chat was racing across rooftops, on the way towards the Agreste mansion.
"We'll talk after I get you patched up..."
Ladybug sat in front of Adrien, resembling a guilty puppy as she fidgeted in her seat.
"Just de-transform so I can patch you up. You have what, two minutes left? It makes no difference if you do it now or later!" Ladybug flinched at Adrien's tone, knowing she deserved it. He had a right to be mad after how long she has kept this from him. It wasn't fair. "Just... Please... I need to clean your wounds..." Adrien begged after a long sigh, calming down slightly.
"Please don't be mad..." Ladybug spoke before shutting her eyes tight as she transformed back to Marinette. She kept her eyes shut after the transformation finished, cringing as she heard Adrien gasp.
"M-Marinette..." At his words, she quickly covered her face with her hands, curling into a ball despite the pain shooting up her spine. "Marinette... Please look at me?" Adrien asked with a shaky voice, although it didn't sound like a question. He sounded much closer than before. She eventually let him move her hands away, finally looking up to meet his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" Marinette's frown grew as she looked at his face, looking utterly broken.
"Because I knew you could never like me... You like Ladybug." She admitted, before realising how stupid that explanation sounded. "I'm nothing like her. We're two different people. I'm really sorry... You must be disappointed, really."
Adrien's face softened as he watched her eyes fill up with tears, guilt forming in his chest from being the reason she was so sad. "Marinette, like I said before, earlier today... I like you. All of you. And despite what you might think, you and Ladybug aren't that different... I see her in you everyday. Now, thinking about it, it's silly I never noticed it before." He laughed awkwardly as he brushed his hand through his hair, other hand grabbing onto one of Marinette's hands. "Whether you believe it or not, with or without the mask, the same kind, beautiful, brave girl is underneath."
Marinette looked up at Adrien with wide eyes, staring at him for a couple seconds to see if he was lying. She half expected Ashton Kutcher to jump out and yell, 'you've been punked!'
"You really think so?"
Marinette couldn't help the contagious grin growing on her face as Adrien looked down at her with a smile. "I know so." Adrien told her, causing her smile to grow even larger. She couldn't help but pull him into a tight hug. He took a second to reciprocate, but wrapped his arms eagerly around her. He only pulled away after feeling her blood seeping through her coat.
"This is all very sweet, but I really think my back needs to get patched up now." Marinette spoke with laughter in her voice, despite the pain. Adrien laughed awkwardly as he helped her pull off her coat, slightly embarrassed by the fact he totally forgot about her wound.
Adrien cringed as Marinette winced from the movement then blushed as she realised she'd need to take off her shirt. "You're lucky, you don't need stitches. It looks like your kwami took most of the blow." Adrien explained as he walked to his bathroom to grab the first aid kit. It was a rather large one, due to his wealth.
"You planning on performing surgery or what?" Marinette joked as she watched him pull out gloves from the first aid kit beside her. Adrien snorted as a reply as he took out rubbing alcohol to clean her wound. Marinette shut her eyes after watching him pour it onto some cotton pads. "This is going to hurt." She added, clinging onto one of his random shirts on the floor to brace herself. Besides the sharp intake of breath and her tensing back, she didn't look too affected by the pain.
Adrien patched up her wound silently, only speaking after he eventually covered it with some gauze. "You'll need to change the bandage, but besides that, you should live." He told her with a clap of his hands after taking off his gloves.
Marinette let out a fake gasp in relief. "Thank god, what would this city do without Ladybug." She spoke in an exaggerated tone, faking a shocked expression.
"Better yet, what would Chat Noir do without Ladybug? He would simply parish!"
The pair erupted into giggles, which soon trailed off into awkward silence. "So you're not disappointed it was me?" Adrien eventually asked, a nervous look on his face, expecting her to take it all back.
Marinette looked at him with her mouth agape in surprise. "W-What? Me? Disappointed?" She started, a stuttering mess before she paused to regain her voice. "Adrien, I have had a crush on you since the day you gave me your umbrella..." She admitted, twiddling her thumbs, nervously.
Marinette looked off to the side as she awaited a response, not able to meet his eyes. She could feel Adrien staring at her which just made her even more nervous. Eventually, after the long silence finally broke her, she glanced over at him. She was surprised to see the large grin stretched across his face. She relaxed slightly with relief as she couldn't help but return his smile. He opened his mouth, like he was going to say something, but was interrupted by a voice coming from outside his room.
"Adrien? Are you in there?" Nathalie called, voice getting closer with every word.
The pair were quick to jump up, Tikki and Plagg coming out of hiding to join them. Marinette was quick to transform and race over to the window, only looking back after she finally got it open. With a splurge of confidence from behind the mask, she gave Adrien a charming smile before she spoke. "See you tomorrow." Adrien's mouth opened with shock after she sent him a wink.
Despite the loud knocks on the door, Adrien couldn't help but watch her jump out the window with her yo-yo in hand. "You are totally done for." Plagg teased as he hid in his jacket pocket.
"You should be careful today." Tikki reminded Marinette for what seemed like the millionth time that morning. "You don't want your stitches to tear again." Marinette couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"I promise i'll be careful but I think we have bigger problems right now." Marinette told her as she walked closer and closer to the school.
Tikki poked her head out of her purse. "It'll be fine, Marinette. You heard him, didn't you? Adrien likes you! All of you!" She spoke reassuringly, before ducking back down in her purse as people walked by.
Marinette didn't reply as she tightened her hands around the strap of her bag. She knew Tikki was right but she couldn't help the nerves eating away at her. It wasn't too late to turn around and run home, was it? "Mari!" Alya called, waving her over in front of the steps of the school. With a long sigh, Marinette gave her a big smile and a wave before walking over to join her.
"Did you see that akuma attack yesterday?" Alya asked, already whipping out her phone as the pair headed inside the school. Before Marinette could answer, Alya already began explaining. "It was so awesome! Despite getting those sharp claws in her back, Ladybug still purified the akuma! And then Chat Noir carried her off! Can you believe it?"
"Yeah, crazy!" Marinette agreed as they both stopped at their lockers. She couldn't help but glance around for Adrien, poking her head around a row of lockers in an attempt to remain hidden.
"Woah there, spy kid. Should I ask?" Alya asked, although Marinette knew she was going to anyways.
Marinette turned back to her and shrugged. "It's nothing." She told her, digging through her locker for her books. She stuck her tongue out at Alya after she rolled her eyes. "I know that look, and the answer is no so shut up about it." Marinette hissed, glaring her eyes at her friend.
Alya put up both her hands in mock surrender as a sly smirk grew on her face. "All im saying is, if you want to see Adrien so bad, just talk to him yourself." Alya couldn't help but laugh at the face her friend gave her.
Before Marinette could reply, two large hands placed themselves on her shoulders. She tensed after hearing the familiar voice. "Talk to me about what?" Adrien asked, acting like he didn't hear every syllable. She watched as Alya's face twisted in shock after Adrien planted a kiss on her cheek. "C'mon, i'll walk you to class."
Marinette let Adrien lace his fingers with her and lead her away, leaving behind a shocked Alya and Nino, who was cheering after joining his girlfriend. Adrien burst into laughter after looking at Marinette's shocked expression.
"What, after that declaration of my love, you didn't think I would follow through?" Adrien asked, swinging their hands as they made their way to class.
Marinette turned her face away as she began to blush, only resulting in Adrien laughing some more. "I'm just embarrassed." She told him, finally turning back to him. "Alya's face was pretty priceless, though." She added, a smile finally growing on her face.
Adrien began to giggle, bringing a hand up to hide his mouth. "Well, I would be too, considering you have a crush on me." He teased, resulting in Marinette's mouth falling open in horror. She squeezed his hand hard, glaring up at him with a frown.
"I hate you." She hissed, giving him one last face before turning away from him to sulk.
"No you don't." He teased, a confident smile on his face. Marinette turned to him and couldn't help but smile back.
Marinette decided to surprise him instead, stopping to turn towards him and pull his face to hers. With a large grin, she pulled away from him just as Adrien was beginning to kiss her back. He blinked twice as he stared down at her, clearly shocked. Marinette began to laugh, causing Adrien to relax as he couldn't help but laugh along with her.
"I don't know how I got so lucky…" Adrien murmured, taking a hand to cup her cheek to bring her in for another kiss.
Marinettes smile grew as she heard Chloe's protests across the hall.