Standard disclaimers apply
Rehearsals continued to progress smoothly for the month of November. December came stomping in like a giant bear, bringing with it a massive cold front and Marinette's one weakness: her ladybug aversion to cold weather. During the autumn months, she'd been knitting like crazy, trying to create as much wool protection as possible. Adrien, knowing how his lady got during winter, tried to discreetly keep Marinette as warm as possible by sneaking extra and discrete means of heat to his lady.
"Girl," began Alya, "why were you shivering during class? It's not like the heaters were broken."
"C-c-c-cold," answered Marinette, unable to hide her trembling. Adrien, knowing the winter cold slipping into the old classroom felt like an industrial freezer to her, slipped four chemical heating hand packs in her handbag. Marinette glanced at Adrien, gratitude sparkling in her eye before she grabbed two packs to put in the bottom of her fur-lined boots.
"I saw that Agreste." Kim stated, startling Adrien, Nino and Alya. Marinette was too focused on her boots to comment, "When are you going to man up and ask Marinette out already?" Silence filled the class as the students stopped eating their lunches to hear Adrien's answer to the question on all of their minds.
"How is my love life any of your business?" Kim, not expecting Adrien to put the spotlight back on him, fumbled for an answer to Adrien's direct accusation.
"D-d-don't I have a say in t-t-this?" spoke up Marinette, irritation on her face as well, "Don't think Adrien and I don't k-know about all the bets, Kim." Shock filled the room before Kim turned an accusing look to Alya and Nino, not realizing they looked just as shocked as the rest of the class at the not-couple's knowledge.
"They didn't tell us a-anything." Marinette stated, drawing attention back to Adrien and herself, "I came back to the class during a break and caught all of you going over bets about Adrien and I."
"And naturally, she let me know." Adrien chimed in, a smug smile on his face at the terror, shock, confusion and guilt on all of their classmates' faces.
"Now," continued Marinette, "let's talk about our terms for forgetting about those bets." Everyone gulped, realizing they'd underestimated how clever and resourceful the 'not-couple' really are.
During Chemistry, the class they had right before lunch, Marinette started to shiver badly. Adrien may have slipped her extra heating packs, but with the restrictions of the chemical labs strict handling policies, they didn't do much good.
"Girl;" Alya hissed, concern all over her face, "do you need to go to the nurse's office? You look like you're starting to turn blue!" Adrien's super hearing picked up what Alya said and panic overcame his reason when he saw Marinette slide off her lab stool.
"Marinette!" screamed the model as the shivering girl huddled in on herself. The model raced to the closet and pulled out the emergency fire blankets and covered Marinette in them, hoping to stave off the cold.
"Kim!" The extreme athlete stumbled, shocked at how authoritative Adrien sounded; was this the same shy, quiet kid?
"I need you to run to the nurse's office and get Madame Renee." When Kim stood not moving, Adrien surprised everyone by shouting angrily at Kim.
"Can you hear me!? Hurry before her condition gets worse!" Snapping out of his daze, Kim practically vanished from the room, too stunned to do anything but obey the blonde.
"Come on; come on!" Groaning could be heard from Marinette as Adrien desperately kept working on keeping her awake.
"Maybe she should rest." Rose suggested timidly.
"No!" shouted the panicked model, "can't you see the blue forming on her lips? She's in pre-hypothermia! If she sleeps, her core temperature will get colder and she'll-she'll . . ." Nino, shocked at how panicked Adrien was becoming, interrupted to ask what the entire class wanted to know.
"What'll happen, dude?" Adrien froze before frantically wrapping Marinette up like a bug in a rug.
"Trust me," answered Adrien, "you don't want that answer." Alya, now worried, growled before telling the blonde off.
"You are in no position to decide what we do or do not want to know! Now tell us!" Adrien's temper flared before he blurted out the answer.
"How does knowing she could die help the situation, Alya!?" Stunned silence met Adrien's statement.
"Come now children," patronized their chemistry teacher, "surely Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng's condition is not that bad!"
"I'll be the judge of that, Monsieur," answered Madame Renee, glaring at the chemistry teach before approaching Marinette, "It would appear that Monsieur Agreste's evaluation is correct. Marinette is on record as having cold-sensitivity, though I never imagined it was this severe."
"Monsieur Agreste," bid the nurse, "would you be so kind as to take her to my office? I can heat her there." Adrien nodded before grabbing Marinette's hat, gloves, scarf and coat and gently rousing her so she could put them. Marinette mumbled in protest till Adrien whispered in her ear, which seemed to rouse her enough to follow Adrien and Madame Renee out of the class. Silence followed till Juleka of all people broke it.
"Remind me again how those two are not dating."
As soon as lunch break started, Alya and Nino ran to the nurse's office in search of Marinette. Adrien, to everyone's great surprise, ran right out of the school and into the street. Talk about loyal, Alya sarcastically thought in her mind. Alya and Nino, having brought their lunches, spent their lunch break with Marinette in the heated nurse's office, internally wondering where Adrien had disappeared to in such a rush.
About halfway through their lunch break, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng barreled into the infirmary, panic on her face as she searched for her daughter. Behind Marinette's anxious mother stood Adrien looking like he'd just run a marathon in a snowbank. The nurse scowled at Adrien, knowing that he'd gone to get Marinette's mother even though he'd been told not to do it last time.
"Maman?" called Marinette, who sat in the infirmary wrapped in various blankets and seated close to a space heater.
"Oh Marinette! My poor daughter!" Mrs. Dupain-Cheng muttered to herself in Chinese as she checked over her daughter. Once Sabine was satisfied, she opened the thermos lunch box she'd packed and gave Marinette hot chocolate with spinach and cheese soufflé. Alya, always the reporter, turned to Adrien for answers on why he'd disappeared and where he'd gone in Marinette's time of need.
"Where were you!? Marinette needed you!" Adrien internally rolled his eyes; Marinette was a lot stronger than everyone assumed of her. If there was someone who needed the other in their relationship, it was him.
"I was going to get Marinette's parents so they could come check on her. After all, their bakery is only a block away from our school and every decent parent's nightmare is to get a call from school that their child is sick. Besides," Adrien turned to look at Mrs. Dupain-Cheng fussing over Marinette, "nothing can replace a mother's touch." Alya and Nino were stunned. Here they were, assuming Adrien had abandoned Marinette when really he'd been getting her the best medicine possible.
As Alya apologized for her accusation, Nino thought about what Adrien had said about the distance between their school and the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. Adrien had run through a city block of high snow drifts and then went back while bringing Marinette's mom. He'd basically given up half his lunch break just to bring Marinette her mother.
"Adrien!" Marinette called with a stern look on her face, "Get your butt over here right now!" Adrien guiltily walked over to his lady.
"I've eaten half of what Maman brought me; you eat the other half. Understood?" Adrien nodded as he reached over for a broccoli and cheese quiche, internally cursing Plagg for passing on his love of cheese to him. Well, mused Adrien, at least it's not Camembert.
After school was dismissed, Adrien drove Marinette to her family's bakery, much to the shock of all the students in their year. On the way, Adrien cuddled his lady. Marinette internally groaned, knowing it was Adrien's protective instincts kicking in but was too tired to protest his cuddling. After all, she did secretly enjoy it.
"Adrien," groaned Marinette, "I have to leave the car now."
"I'll walk you," answered her overprotective boyfriend. Marinette rolled her eyes, but internally she was grateful for Adrien's care. She would never admit it but the scare she got in class had frightened her. After Adrien had walked Marinette home and gotten a dozen 'thanks yous' from Sabine and a huge bear hug from Tom, he stumbled into his limo for the Gorilla to drive him home.
"Adrien," said the Gorilla, which startled the young model, "why are you and Miss Dupain-Cheng keeping your relationship a secret?" Adrien froze, internally cursing that he'd forgotten how observant the Gorilla could be; then again, it was part of his job.
"Marinette wants to be a fashion designer," Adrien stated, hoping if he sprinkled the truth in with the lies it'd be more believable, "She wants her talent to be recognized without people sucking up to her due to her . . . connections." The Gorilla nodded while keeping his eyes on the road.
"That doesn't explain why you haven't told your parents or hers for that matter." Adrien gulped knowing that would be much harder to explain away.
"We are . . . waiting for the right moment." The Gorilla grunted before answering Adrien's statement.
"With that kind of attitude, you and Miss Dupain-Cheng will never tell either of your parents," Adrien looked down guiltily before resolve became etched on his face.
"We plan to tell them before March." The Gorilla nodded before adding his own caveat.
"If you and Miss Dupain-Cheng haven't told them by March, I will. Understood?" Adrien nodded; relieved he and Marinette had managed to dodge a proverbial bullet. Adrien pulled out his phone and sent a text to his lady explaining what had happened between him and the Gorilla.
Meanwhile, Marinette was bundled up in a blanket cocoon in her loft bedroom. Tikki was situated in a cozy nest of Marinette's leftover yarns and fleeces which were fashioned into a mini-cocoon hidden in Marinette's bedside drawer. Suddenly, much to Marinette's annoyance, Adrien sent her a text. She groaned as she lifted some layers on the side of her cocoon to reach her cell phone. Finally reaching her bedside drawer and snagging her cell phone, she opened Adrien's text.
Adrien – The Gorilla knows about our R status
Marinette felt the breath leave her lungs before she noticed the R right before the word status. Relief filled her before she texted back.
Marinette – Let's just be glad he's discrete. OK kitty?
Adrien quietly chucked at his girlfriend's sass.
Adrien – Alright princess.
Marinette sighed as she read her boyfriend's reply. Tikki, seeing the look on her chosen's face, quietly giggled so as not to ruin the moment. You and Adrien are truly unique, thought Tikki; Plagg and I haven't told you this, but you two are the first Ladybug and Cat Noir we've seen that are so close in age. We can't help but think it affected you compatibility test on some level.
Tikki, ever the romantic, thought back to all the Ladybugs and Cat Noirs that had fallen in love. She snuggled into her cocoon happily before an unwelcome thought came to mind. The one time the Balance between Ladybug and Cat Noir had failed. As Marinette called a 'see you soon Tikki!' on her way down to help with setting the table for dinner, Tikki shook herself of the gloomy thoughts, reminding herself that their situation was not the present.
She and Plagg would not allow history to repeat itself.
Ladybug and Cat Noir met up at Notre Dame for their weekly patrol later that night and after Marinette had gotten in a good nap. The two heroes glanced at each other as the events from homeroom ran through their minds. They guffawed before laughing a loud, boisterous laugh about the hilarity of their situation in homeroom. It had been priceless!
"Did you see the looks on their faces?!" exclaimed Cat Noir, amusement plastered on his face.
"Yeah," agreed Ladybug, "it was a cross between guilty, stunned and terrified! Classic!"
"And the best part," guffawed Cat Noir, "is how it totally distracted them from that guy's question!" Ladybug's humor dissolved into seriousness as Cat Noir had killed the jovial mood.
"Kitty?" Cat Noir turned to his lady guiltily, knowing he'd killed the mood, "What are we going to do? We've got two months left until the start of the third stage."
"Yeah," agreed Cat Noir, "two months till the catastrophic reveal."
"Do you really think it'll be that bad?" Ladybug asked, purposely ignoring the awful pun.
"Have you forgotten who we found out Hawkmoth was?" Cat Noir sighed like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, which one could argue was true, "I will never forget how shocked I felt that my own father had been my archenemy the whole time." Cat Noir stopped upon feeling the soft, supportive hand of his partner on his upper arm.
"Don't think I'll come out unscathed kitty. My dad's not going to be happy about his daughter having a fiancé so young."
"Hey!" argued Cat Noir, "I'm the younger one here!" Ladybug laughed before bopping her tomcat on his nose, earning a huff from the tomcat.
"You and I both know there's a double standard for girls and boys when it comes to dating. Time for patrol kitty." Cat Noir huffed again as he followed his lady, admiring how her suit molded to all her curves just right . . .
"Stop staring at my butt and hurry up, tomcat!" Cat Noir scoffed before he followed his bugaboo in leaping over Paris' rooftops.
Kim, Alix, Chloe, Nathaniel, Juleka, Rose, Alya, Nino, Ivan, Mylene, Max and Sabrina were all gathered in Chloe's bedroom for one thing only: a plan on how to get Marinette and Adrien together. They may have lost their bets but they were determined to get the two most oblivious people on the planet together and happy. They owed them so much for all their kindnesses over the years. As they were planning, everyone was grateful Chloe had relinquished her claim on Adrien. She was much more bearable now that she was putting an effort into being pleasant.
"So," began Alya, "what can we do?"
"Very little," began Max, the class genius, "According to the agreement they wrote up and had us all sign, we are not allowed to: trap them together, put them in a romantic situation, pay others outside our class to do so, start rumors about them dating, force them to kiss through means of a recreational activity or try to set them up on a blind date with each other."
"Darn it! That covers anything we could do to get them together!" exclaimed Nino. Suddenly, Alya brightened as she processed what Nino had said that could be a potential loophole.
"Nino! You're a genius!" Everyone stared at Alya, confused by how Nino was a genius; what had he said that was so inspired?
"The play!" exclaimed Alya, seeing everyone's faces brighten at the realization. Nothing in the contract referenced their teachers being the ones to bring them together. This just might work!
"We're sorry children," began Madam Renault, "but it would be against our code of ethics as teachers to interfere in Marinette and Adrien's love lives." The class groaned at the statement from their responsible teacher.
"Of course," complained Alya, "I just can't believe they would know that."
"You clearly don't realize how extensive Adrien's home schooling was." Chloe butted in, drawing attention to herself, "He is the only heir to the Agreste fortune."
"I fail to see how Adrien's status would affect how he wrote out such an extensive contract." Max pointed out for the rest of the class.
"It does because he was tutored in contract reading and writing by law students going to university." Chloe's classmates gaped; no wonder there'd been no loophole!
From the roof of the school out of sight of their classmates, Ladybug and Cat Noir were doing their best to stifle their guffaws. The situation couldn't be more funny. Their friends were so intent on getting them together that they ignored the obvious signs that they already were! Although, to be fair, their kwamis' magic kept them from figuring it out till the betrothal stage; it didn't keep it from being hilarious though! This situation could go on television and would be world renown; it was that entertaining.
"You know Princess," whispered Cat Noir, "when they figure out how long we've hidden our dating status, everyone's gonna want to flay us." Ladybug giggled at her tomcat's weird sense of humor that she had tried for so long to not admit she enjoyed immensely.
"I'd like to see them try kitty; especially considering who we are." Cat Noir quietly chuckled, agreeing with the woman he'd loved since middle school.