Author's Notes:

Thanks to everyone who voted and/or expressed their interest in seeing my one-shots continue! It was close, but ultimately "How to Crush your Crush" edged out "Follow Your Heart" by a narrow margin. So, the story continues! And there's plenty more to come!

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG: "HOW TO CRUSH YOUR CRUSH"

by Mythril Moth

Chapter Two: Damage Control

"Well," Adrien said sheepishly, "this just got even more awkward."

Marinette stared from Adrien, to the black Kwami, to Tikki, and back. Numbly, she pointed a trembling finger at Adrien. "You're Chat Noir?"

Adrien chuckled. "Surprise!"

Marinette shook her head. "You're Chat Noir."

"He's Chat Noir," the black Kwami confirmed. "More importantly, did you pack any Camembert in that picnic basket?"

Adrien groaned. "I had the chef pack a picnic lunch I intended to share with a very nice girl, you really think I'm gonna taint the food with the smell of old feet?"

Tikki giggled. "I see he's putting you in your place, Plagg."

Plagg sighed. "Well, whatever. There should still be something tasty in there." He floated down and disappeared into the picnic basket.

"Hey! Don't hog all the leftovers! I'm hungry too!" Tikki exclaimed, following him.

Marinette spared the basket a glance, then looked back up at Adrien. He looked away, his cheeks pink. "Umm..." Adrien coughed. "I guess as far as love confessions go, I just tanked this one in the worst possible way, huh?" He chuckled ruefully. "It's bad enough I hurt you the way I did, but on top of everything else, I brought you here to ask for advice about confessing my feelings to Ladybug, and you're Ladybug." He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. "If only the ground would just open up and swallow me right now."

"You could always make the ground open up and swallow you," Marinette said in a lightly snippy tone that didn't quite convey the usual playfulness she felt around Chat Noir.

"Yeah, I guess I could," Adrien agreed. After an awkward moment, he looked at Marinette, hands folded in his lap. "So..." He sighed. "Now I know you have a thing for me, and you know I have a thing for you."

"You have a thing for Ladybug, you mean," Marinette said.

"Hey." Adrien gently turned her to face him. "Ever since I fell in love with you, I've wanted to know who you were behind the mask. I've spent hours just thinking about you, wondering what you were doing, who you were with...if you had a boyfriend..."

"Really?" Marinette asked, folding and refolding the wet, stained handkerchief in her lap.

"My heart's belonged to you ever since our first battle together," Adrien said quietly, gently brushing her bangs away from her forehead. "When you stared down Hawk Moth and told him how bad we're gonna kick his butt...that's when I knew I was in love with you."

Marinette's eyes widened, and she blushed. "M-mine's belonged to you ever since..." She swallowed. "Ever since you shared your umbrella. After I realized you weren't, you know...like Chloé."

"Huh." Adrien's eyes rapidly moved back and forth as he searched his memories. "So...pretty much the same time," he said.

Marinette laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"And Chat Noir?" Adrien asked.

Marinette snorted, rolling her eyes. "If you weren't such a pest as Chat Noir," she said, smirking at him.

"A pest?" Adrien asked with a mock pout.

"Seriously, you're like that skunk in those old American cartoons," Marinette said with a giggle.

"Hey, if I smell like a skunk, it's because of Plagg and his stupid cheese!" Adrien protested.

Marinette rolled her eyes again. "You know what I mean."

"Actually, I don't," Adrien said.

"Really? Huh." Marinette shook her head. "Okay, let's just say that Chat Noir kinda...comes on way too strong."

"Oh." Adrien looked down at his lap. "Sorry. I just...when I'm Chat Noir, I can't help it. I feel so much more alive." He looked back up at Marinette. "You make me feel alive."

Marinette's face heated up. "Adrien..."

Distantly, a bell tolled the hour.

"So...what do we do now?" Adrien asked, casting Marinette a shy look before averting his gaze again.

Marinette did the same look-and-duck, wringing her hands in her lap. "I don't know," she said.

Slowly, they turned to look at each other, their eyes meeting. Adrien reached up and gently cupped Marinette's chin in one hand. Slowly, he leaned in. Marinette's eyes widened.

Adrien's lips brushed softly against hers for just a moment. His eyes never left hers as he withdrew slightly. "Be my ladybug?" he asked softly.

Marinette swallowed. "I...okay," she whispered.

"Okay," Adrien said.

"Okay," Marinette repeated. She started to laugh giddily. "Oh my god..." she reached up and touched her lips. "Oh my god."

Adrien pulled her into a hug. For a long time, he simply held her, neither of them saying anything.

"Aww..." Tikki cooed, breaking the moment. Both teens jumped and looked at the picnic basket. The two Kwami were perched atop it; Tikki was watching them with shining eyes and a silly smile, while Plagg was curled up asleep.

Adrien coughed, then looked at Marinette. His brow furrowed. "Oh crap," he said. "You're a complete mess and it's all my fault."

Marinette shook her head. "No, it's—"

"Marinette, it's my fault," Adrien insisted. He sighed. "I need to fix this."

"How bad is it?" Marinette wondered. She pulled a compact out of her purse and studied her reflection. She made a stuck noise in the back of her throat. "Guh."

"Yeah. You're not going back to school like this," Adrien said. He sighed and pulled out his phone. "This will not end well." Tapping the screen twice, he waited for a moment. "Nathalie? I need your help. You have the other car ready? Yeah, I got rid of him. You did, huh. Okay. No, it's...look. Can you bring the fix kit? Number two. Yeah. No, it's not for me. I'll explain when you get here. Hurry." He told Nathalie where to find them, then disconnected and put his phone away after checking the time. "Well, we should have enough time."

"Fix kit?" Marinette asked.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Do you think I look perfect all the time? We have three different emergency makeup kits ready to go at all times. They're mostly for me, but sometimes we have to fix another model on the fly, so she'll be able to match you."

Marinette blinked. "Wow, I never thought about that."

Adrien chuckled. "Last week I had five huge zits on my face. Nobody ever knew."

"Five? I only saw two."

Adrien stared at her. "You saw—"

Marinette blushed, ducking her head. "I, uh...probably pay more attention to you than is really healthy," she admitted sheepishly.

Plagg snorted. "Adrien has a Ladybug shrine."

Tikki giggled. "Marinette has an Adrien shrine."

Both teens paled, eyes wide. "Wow," Adrien said. "Awkward."

"Yeah." Marinette glared at Tikki, opening her purse; Tikki sheepishly floated back in. Plagg rolled his eyes and retreated to the dark confines of Adrien's jacket.

Two minutes later, a slightly breathless but otherwise perfectly composed Nathalie marched briskly up to them, a makeup satchel in hand. As she approached, she first studied Adrien, then Marinette. Her eyes narrowed just slightly; her lips thinned imperceptibly.

Adrien stood up and stepped back, letting Nathalie sit down. She roughly took hold of Marinette's face and studied her. Adrien coughed. "So, umm..."

"Explain. Quickly."

"I, uhh...I kind of wanted to tell Marinette I'm in love with her, but I made a huge mess of it, I had no idea she had a crush on me, I kinda...started things wrong, we got our signals crossed, and...this."

Nathalie spared him a brief glance, then turned to Marinette, raising an eyebrow. Marinette nodded. "That's pretty much it." After a beat, she added, "but it's okay now! I'm okay. We're okay."

"You're the girl who made the derby hat Monsieur Agreste liked," Nathalie said as she opened the makeup kit and began sorting through its contents.

"Y-yes," Marinette said nervously.

"And now you're Adrien's girlfriend?"

"That's right," Adrien said.

Nathalie's lips curved into a millimeter of a smile. She looked up at Adrien. "I would recommend not making your girlfriend cry. Your father would not approve."

"Ah...right. Good...good advice." Adrien scratched the back of his neck, looking away with a flush to his cheeks.

"Monsieur Agreste will of course need to be informed you have a girlfriend," Nathalie said in an all-business tone as she began working on Marinette's face. "Since she's an aspiring designer who has already caught his interest, I don't expect him to object."

It took fifteen minutes for Nathalie to cover up most of the damage Marinette's fit of despair had caused to her face. In addition to the makeup, she also used some eyedrops that she claimed would reduce the redness within thirty minutes. By the time she was done, Marinette could hardly see any signs she had been crying less than an hour before. "Wow," she said. "This is amazing. Thank you."

Nathalie packed away the makeup kit. "Any person associated with the Agreste family in either a business or personal capacity must present a perfect countenance at all times," she said brusquely. "Now, I will drive the two of you back to school."

"Thank you, Nathalie." Adrien loaded the picnic basket and cooler into the boot of the car, and they drove off, arriving at Collège Françoise Dupont with fifteen minutes to spare.

As she stopped the car, Nathalie looked at the two teens in the rear-view mirror. "Adrien has a free evening tonight," she said. "He doesn't have them very often. I suggest you make the most of it."

Once they were out of the car and Nathalie was on the way back to the mansion, Adrien turned to Marinette. "So..."

Marinette gave Adrien a coy look. "Umm...come over?" she suggested. "To my place? We can talk. We need to talk."

"Yeah," Adrien agreed. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then they walked into the campus side by side.

À SUIVRE...

Miraculous Ladybug is the intellectual property of Zagtoon, Method Animation, Toei Animation, and Thomas ASTRUC. This intellectual property is used without permission with no intent to profit from said use. The unique content contained on this page is the property of Mythril Moth, and redistribution of this content without express permission is strongly discouraged.