Author's Note:
Description: Between fighting crime, his distant father, and an over-scheduled life, Adrien doesn't exactly have it easy, despite all outward appearances otherwise. Can he find respite and refuge in a certain polka-dotted someone, or will he crash and burn? Anything's possible. Miraculous love square. Also published on wattpad under backthataccioup.
New news: I've published this on AO3 under yesterday09. Please check that out if you have the time.
I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or its characters, but I do own this story.
Thank you, thank you, to everyone who has left a review, favorited, or followed this story. It motivates me ;)
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Hand cramping from signing so many papers, Adrien plastered a glittering and completely fake smile on his face as the last of the girls approached his table. He had been itching to leave more than two hours ago. What started as a quick little hour and a half type of affair had spiralled into close to four. He was supposed to meet up with Ladybug in 10 minutes, but he doubted that he'd be able to arrive on time.
"It was so nice to meet such lovely ladies," he said to the fans, and he could see the blood rush to their faces as they giggled nervously. He signed the final piece of paper presented to him with a flourish. The fans finally walked out of the store, bell above the door tinkling musically, as if celebrating with Adrien. He let out a sigh of relief before doing a double-take at the person who was standing near the register.
"Marinette, is that you?" he queried, confusion evident in his voice. She looked up at him and nodded.
"What are you doing here so late? Not that it's any of my business. If you want to spend 4 hours at a fabric store, there's nothing odd about that. Heck, I just did it. But I thought that you found your fabric ages ago," Adrien stumbled along. It didn't make any sense! It wasn't as if Marinette had been waiting up for an autograph, and he doubted that with an eye for fashion such as hers she would have had a ton of difficulty finding the right supplies.
"Well, the associates kept coming for their shifts, but decided to go get autographs," she explained.
Adrien felt extremely guilty. Even though it technically wasn't directly his fault, he felt a responsibility to her. If his father wasn't so concerned about the Agreste brand, he never would have been at the quaint fabric store that Marinette frequented, and this wouldn't have been a problem for her. Shit, this little snafu probably cost her hours of homework time, or gotten in the way of a social event. What had he done?
"Allow me to make it up to you," he insisted, walking towards her purposefully. Marinette looked confused and a little scared, unsure of his intentions. He plucked the bolt of fabric out of her hands, along with the zippers and closures and thread she'd picked up.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked as he strolled up the the register.
"Making it up to you," he said, pulling out a supple Italian leather wallet. Adrien had thought that to be rather obvious.
"You don't have to do that. It was nothing too bad," she insisted.
"I want to do it. And besides, if I was bored and I had something to occupy myself with…" he trailed off. Marinette didn't really seem to know how to accept a compliment or act of kindness. He'd have to do something to change that. She was a nice girl, smart too, gave helpful explanations in class. He'd caused her day to be thrown out of whack. It was the least he could do.
The clerk ringing up the purchase was staring at Adrien with wonder and admiration in her eyes. Great. She was a fan, and had probably been cavorting around with the other cashiers and salespeople in the line, leaving Marinette to stand around for hours.
"So noble," the cashier gushed gushed. "You are so kind, Adrien!"
Even as he thanked her, saying, "I'm flattered," he gave her a look full of all things he really wanted to say to her about how she had treated Marinette. The cashier broke his gaze very quickly.
After the haul had been placed in the bag, Adrien handed it to Marinette with an exaggerated bow. She let out a little laugh at his silly antics. She'd never really seen her crush be anything less than serious. They walked out the door together, and under the bright circle of a streetlamp. Adrien found the Gorilla's eyes in the car across the street and willed him to understand. Since the large man didn't come follow the two, he supposed that in his own way the bodyguard did get it. Adrien continued to walk along with Marinette, and eventually she turned to look at him.
"What are you doing?" she asked him. It came out gently, but was a bit of a reality check.
"Walking you home. What kind of 'noble young man' would I be if I left a fair maiden alone in the city at night?" he joked. His tiredness let a little bit of Chat slip out.
Chat! That reminded him, he had to meet Ladybug. He was already 10 minutes late. He hoped his lady wasn't waiting for him, sad that he hadn't shown. He snorted. Good joke, Adrien. Ladybug only saw him as a friend.
Marinette rolled her eyes at his joke, but then a startled look came upon her face. Had something he said been inadvertently inappropriate? She relaxed again. Adrien figured she probably had some sort of thing due that she just remembered about. Happened to him all the time after patrols.
They walked along in companionable silence, strides matching each other somehow although Adrien probably had Marinette by a head in terms of height. It felt instinctive and natural, like they'd been doing it all their lives together.
Adrien didn't feel awkward like he sometimes did at school. He felt that same freedom that he felt when he was Chat, but when he looked down he was still wearing denim and a sweatshirt.
He didn't need to take a look at Marinette to know she was feeling the same thing, but he did anyway. She looked achingly familiar and painfully beautiful in what paltry light was provided by the streetlights. He had to look away. I love Ladybug.
Finally, they reached the exterior of a bakery, lights on although its door was locked for the evening. When Marinette knocked on the door, it opened, revealing a kind looking woman who shared many features with Marinette, who smiled largely.
"Thank you," whispered Marinette, waving. Adrien waved back and the door closed, locking with a click. Upon hearing it, he sprung into action. He found an alley to the left of the bakery and transformed into Chat Noir. He had a lady to meet.
Just as he was about to scurry up a drainpipe and hit the rooftops, he heard activity on the fire escape. He willed himself to fade into the shadows, but supposed an all black wardrobe in an alley at night was close enough.
The person going down the fire escape was Marinette! She moved with a strange grace, and very quietly too, but even tiptoeing wasn't a match for Chat Noir's enhanced hearing. The fire escape was fairly rickety in its own right, only intended for emergency egress, not late night… shenanigans? Just what was Marinette doing, anyway?
"What do we have here?" he voiced aloud. Marinette froze for a moment on the fire escape before quickly descending, just as quietly. She reached the bottom and jumped down, landing neatly on the ground with little more than a muffled thump. Impressive.
"Chat Noir, is it?" Marinette asked rhetorically. "Look, I'm a huge fan. Glad that you're protecting my city. So it is with as much warmth and kindness as I can muster that I tell you: it's none of your business."
Chat was stunned, but laughed nonetheless. Where was the shy and sweet Marinette he knew? Where had she gone? In her place was an acerbically witty, graceful daredevil. That was weird, but hey, Adrien showed different facets of his personality to different people. He was fluid- firm but sweet with Chloé, shy with strangers, kind yet brutally honest with Nino.
He checked his watch again. Twenty minutes. God, he really needed to reach the meeting spot. "Alright then," Chat conceded to Marinette, before scrambling up a pipe and bounding across the rooftops, towards the bridge, their typical meeting spot.
He was so close he could almost taste it. Finally, a chance to get some more clues and figure out who his entrancing partner really was.