The wind whipped through Adrien's hair as he flew, hopping from building to building in the early morning chill of Paris. Electricity filled his veins as he got closer to his city's most famous tourist attraction. He could finally see the Eiffel Tower soaring above, the sunrise casting a warm glow upon it. Nearing the base, he took several running strides before leaping and grabbing ahold of it.
He could hardly contain his excitement and energy. As he climbed spiritedly, he wondered if she would be there like she said she would. Reaching the predetermined ledge, his eyes scanned through his mask for the girl in the ladybug suit.
His eyes lit up as he located her, and he couldn't help himself from grinning like a maniac. She stood looking out towards the city, her chin pressed into her palm with an elbow propped up on the ledge. He wish he had a painting of this moment, of Ladybug calmly looking over Paris in the early morning gleam.
Adrien quietly stepped closer as she turned to face him. She broke into a smile before saying with an affectionate recognition, "Chat Noir."
"My lady," he answered in greeting, heart soaring.
Finally reaching her, he gently placed a hand on her cheek and brought his face close to hers. Ladybug smiled up at him adoringly as he leaned in. His hand slid down her neck, his thumb beneath her chin. Tilting his head at a slight angle, Adrien pressed his lips to hers.
If he could stay like that forever, he could forget his life as Adrien Agreste and even saving Paris as Chat Noir. Her lips were delicate in his, and her breath was intoxicatingly sweet. Her hands were creeping around his waist when suddenly a beep sounded.
His miraculous or hers? That didn't make sense; they hadn't used them today.
Another impatient beep sounded, then another, and then several more until it was so relentless Adrien had to break away from Ladybug to see what was the cause.
Beep beep beep.
Adrien jolted awake to the vigorous blare of the alarm clock. He sighed irritably before smacking a hand down on the interrupting noisemaker.
For a few seconds afterwards, he stared up at the ceiling with an arm across his forehead in disbelief. So that had only been a dream, but he was almost ninety-five percent sure the kiss from the day before had been real. Stumbling out of bed, he entered his bathroom and flicked on the lightswitch.
He looked at himself suspiciously with a hard stare in the mirror, not trusting his own reflection, not trusting himself.
God, what had he been thinking kissing Ladybug yesterday? He never would have done that as Adrien Agreste; in fact, he never would have come close to that sort of confidence had he been Adrien instead of Chat Noir.
She probably thought he had crossed the line this time. I mean, sure, he had tried to profess his undying love for her several times before, but never had he gone through with something like this. His mind recalled the moment her miraculous beeped as they pulled away and the look of fear in her eyes as she ran from him.
She was disgusted with him. Their partnership as Paris's superhero duo was done for. He'd really done it this time.
As Adrien thumped his forehead against the bathroom door repeatedly, a small thought flickered into his head. He was pretty sure it was just his brain trying to make himself feel better, but he thought he recalled a sliver of a chance that she had kissed him back a little.
No way, he thought, proceeding to bang his head against the door some more.
"What are you doing?" a black kwami asked with sleep still in his voice. "Have you gone insane?"
"Yes," Adrien said, laughing nervously.
Plagg narrowed his eyes at him skeptically and asked, "Is this about yesterday's incident? You didn't seem to regret it when it was actually happening."
Adrien closed his eyes for a second. He didn't regret it; he was just sure Ladybug was never going to talk to him again.
He hadn't known what came over him to initiate it. All he could remember was the look of pain and sadness on her face and wanting to eradicate all of that heartache. Screw the guy that had caused her agony. What kind of monster would do such a thing?
"How about breakfast?" Plagg suggested, more like a command. He flew out of the bathroom and flung himself down on Adrien's bed, tired of Adrien's internal war with himself.
Adrien allowed a few more accusatory glances at himself in the mirror, trying hard to restrain himself from losing it completely. He sighed one more time and began getting ready for school, the place where he knew he wouldn't be able to focus today.
After brushing his teeth and combing out his hair, he heard the faint noise of his phone vibrating atop his desk. Walking over, he saw it was an incoming call from Nathalie.
Great, Adrien thought. Pressing the "accept" button, he saw his dad's assistant's face fill the screen.
"Good morning, Adrien," she said, yet her eyes reflected a coldness that contradicted her greeting.
"Your father would like to see you in his study," she continued, "Before you head off to school."
"Alright," Adrien accepted with a sense of dread. What did his dad want from him? It had been a while since they had spoken face to face, as lately his father had not been around the mansion more often than usual. He racked his brain for all the things he could have done wrong for his father to request seeing him.
Nathalie ended the call before Plagg flew over to Adrien.
"Breakfast?" he pressed, a little more demanding than earlier.
"Yeah, yeah," Adrien dismissed, grabbing his shoulder bag full of his school stuff. Plagg grumbled and flew into the bag. Leaving the room, he walked through the mansion towards his dad's study. As he got closer, Adrien noticed that the temperature seemed to drop several degrees.
Reaching the study, Adrien clenched his teeth and knocked twice before hearing his dad say "come in." Adrien then twisted the doorknob and entered, sinking his nails deep into the strap of his shoulder bag.
"Have a seat, son," his father invited without a hint of warmness. Adrien complied, sneaking a few glances around the study. Nothing much had changed since the last time he had visited. Several bookcases lined the walls, while in the center of the room was his dad's desk. Everything on the desk seemed to be organized and in its rightful place.
"First and foremost," Gabriel began, pushing his glasses up his nose, "I would like to address your failure to arrive home at acceptable times after school. Nathalie has informed me you have been late on several occurrences."
"I've had to stay after school for group projects," Adrien defended himself, staring down at his father's desk.
"Get it done during school hours," Gabriel said, intertwining his fingers. "I don't want you at that public school more than necessary. With becoming more prominent in the modeling world comes great responsibility. It's dangerous if you stay there after school hours, and it only opens up the potential for jeopardizing situations."
Adrien had been through this conversation several times. Seriously, Adrien doubted he'd ever be kidnapped with the fanbase that followed him around at school all the time. There'd be no chance for an abductor to sneak him away.
"Most of the projects are out of class projects," Adrien told him. He watched as his father narrowed his eyes. Adrien racked his brain for something to help his argument.
"Also, a lot of the projects involve the mayor's daughter," he added stubbornly, realizing it would probably be the only time he'd use Chloé's name to assist him in a situation. "Chloé's my partner on many of them." He said this knowing his father liked to keep good relationships with the mayor.
"Then invite her over to finish it," his father retorted, a growing irritation furrowing in his eyebrows. Adrien knew from his tone of voice that there was no use trying to further reason with him on the matter.
"Secondly, here is your schedule for the month." He slid a piece of paper across the desk. "I expect you to be on time to all of these." His hardened eyes stared into Adrien's.
"That is all," he finished, and that was it. It was business between Adrien and his father and nothing else.
Picking up the photoshoot and interview schedule, Adrien stood and turned to leave. He could feel his dad's eyes boring into him as he exited.
Adrien breathed a sigh of relief as he walked several paces away from the study. He was glad it had been a brief session and even more glad he hadn't done anything too terrible to infuriate his father any further. Shoving the busy schedule into his bag, he heard Plagg's voice mumble something about cheese. Adrien told himself to stop by the kitchen on the way out.
Adrien had no idea how he was going to focus in school today.
/\
School was exactly what Marinette needed to get her mind off things.
Yesterday… Chat Noir… and kissing?
Her thoughts were still somersaulting, and she felt that her brain might explode at any moment. As she walked down the hall, she had to concentrate on not knocking into anybody else accidentally. She knew once she got to class, she could focus on her studies and forget about the gnawing thoughts for awhile.
Marinette was almost to her first class when she heard the echo of someone barreling down the hall. Their footsteps clomped heavily on the tiled floor, and she could hear the heavy breathing.
"Marinette!" She turned to see Delaney running straight at her.
Marinette's eyes went wide as she was about to be run over by the student council president. Fortunately, Delaney skidded to a stop in front of her and put her hands on her knees. Catching her breath, she looked up and smiled as if she hadn't just about killed Marinette.
"Good morning!" she said cheerily, and before Marinette could greet her back she went on. "I have a task for you. Do you remember our meeting yesterday about how we could get more traffic on our website?"
Marinette thought back to the afternoon before and nodded.
"Well, since you came up with the idea of photographing Adrien," she started, excitement rising in her voice. Marinette eyed the camera around Delaney's neck warily.
"You can have the honor of taking the photos!" she said, lifting the strap off of her neck and thrusting the camera into Marinette's hands. "I've already contacted him and he said yes! I set up the time for after school today in the library. It'll be a student council exclusive!"
Marinette stood there with the camera in disbelief, her mouth going dry. "Wh-what?"
"That's right!" Delaney chirped, winking. "You can thank me later." Marinette was about to protest before the bell signaled it was five minutes before class.
"Ah, I can't be late again!" Delaney shuffled on her feet before saying, "Just go there after school and take a couple of photos. See you later!" And with that, she ran off down the hall from the direction she came from.
"Wait!" Marinette called after her, but it was already too late. She stood there in the middle of the hall dumbfoundedly, people rushing around her to get to their first class.
She couldn't believe it. Taking photos of Adrien was probably about the last thing she wanted to do. Why did Marinette have to suggest it in the first place? If only Delaney had not run off and given her a chance to decline, she wouldn't have to deal with him for a second day in a row.
Looking down at the camera in her hands, Marinette sighed. Gritting her teeth, she continued walking towards her first class of the day.
By the time the end of the school day arrived, Marinette was disheartened. All of the student council members she had asked to take her place had declined. It wasn't like they didn't want to; it was just that they had other things to do.
"This is so frustrating!" Marinette exclaimed to Alya while walking to the library. "Why is everyone busy today?"
Alya threw her best friend a smile. "Maybe it's a sign, you know? Fate is saying you should give him another chance; maybe he's not as bad as you think."
The two reached the entrance to the library and stood before it. Marinette gulped and grabbed Alya's arm.
"Alya, please take my spot," she begged. "I'll go see the movie with Nino in your place."
"No way!" Alya laughed with a smile. "I've been wanting to see this movie for a long time. Besides, Marinette, it won't be that bad. Just take these photos for the website, and then if he's really that terrible, then you'll never have to speak to him again after this."
Marinette let out a whine of frustration, putting her head in her hands.
"I've got to go," Alya said, checking her watch. "We want to get good seats since it's still a new movie." She put her hands on Marinette's shoulders and gave her a serious look.
"It'll be fine," Alya assured her friend. "Just remember that you once would've died to have this chance."
As she watched Alya leave, Marinette grimaced at the thought of her junior high self being head over heels for Adrien. She wished she could go back in time and yell at herself to open her eyes and see who he really was. But then if she literally opened her eyes further, she would have continued to be enticed by his good looks and- no, maybe that was a bad idea.
Marinette allowed herself one more mopey sigh before pushing open the library door.
When she went in, Marinette immediately noticed the normal busyness it usually had during school hours was absent. She saw Alix napping at the checkout counter before looking over at the round tables.
As soon as Marinette made eye contact with him, Adrien lifted his head and smiled. Marinette controlled her breathing and calmly walked over.
He spoke first. "Hey! Delaney told me about your student council website project." His eyes lit up before adding, "She said it was all your idea."
Marinette silently cursed Delaney in her head before feigning a smile. "Yeah, well, let's just get this over with. I'm sure you're busy and have lots of other things to do."
"Not really," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, I guess I'd rather do this instead."
"You'd rather do amateur photographing rather than the type you usually do?" Marinette questioned.
Adrien pulled on the white collar of his shirt obscurely. "Professional modeling gets intense sometimes. Plus, I'm happy to help you out."
"Uh, thanks," she said unsurely, lifting the camera that was around her neck. "Although, I'm not sure why I'm in charge of doing this. I don't know the first thing about being a photographer."
"Ah, that's okay," Adrien said. "I don't think they have to be stellar shots. As long as you get a few pictures, I think it'll work for what you guys are wanting for your website."
Marinette hesitated before saying, "So you're confident that they'll be good enough."
His smile faltered for a second. "What do you mean?"
"You think they'll be good photos no matter what since you're in them," Marinette said, her heartbeat racing. The sudden silence was deafening as Adrien sat there was a stunned look. Marinette didn't know where this fiery confidence was coming from, but a strange calmness was coming over her.
"Don't you think that's a bit… Conceited?" she asked, no longer holding back.
Something seemed to register in Adrien's head before his eyes flashed back to her. He laughed before saying, "You and the council are the ones using me for website views." He bit his lip before smiling up at her. "Don't you think that's a bit… Immoral?"
Marinette could feel heat rising up to her cheeks as the mood between them changed. "Like I said, let's just get this over with." She lifted the camera and tried to find the power button. Aware of Adrien watching with keen interest, the camera fumbled in her hands as she searched for it.
Adrien pushed his chair back and stood, stepping over to her. Turning the camera in Marinette's hands, he flipped a switch on its side that she had completely missed. She felt embarrassment creep into a blush.
"Okay, uh, I guess you can just stand in front of a bookcase or something," she told him, swinging the camera up in her hands.
"As you wish," Adrien obliged, walking over to stand in front of one. Marinette could detect the slight chill in his voice.
As she rose the camera to look through it, she silently reminded herself of what Alya had said. Marinette just needed to take the photos and leave, and then it would be over.
His smile lost its hard edge and his expression softened for the camera. He tilted his head a little and Marinette was astonished at how quickly he could regain his modeling composure. She took a photo and took a few more of the same one just in case the first one turned out to be faulty.
As Marinette removed the camera from her face and flipped through the photos, she was annoyed to find they all looked good. She guessed she should have known; he wasn't a model for nothing.
She looked up at Adrien to see a sort of smugness conspiring upon his face, as if listening to her thoughts.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. "So what happened to you yesterday? When Jasmin attacked, that is. I ran to get help and when I came back, you were nowhere to be found."
"I got away," he said, eyeing her. "Who did you get to help?"
Marinette's mind raced to come up with something. "I found Ladybug and Chat Noir walking around the halls. Apparently they had sensed danger around this school, so I led them to the library."
Adrien blinked. "Oh, I bet they were thankful for your help."
"Y-yeah!" Marinette said. "They were!" She hoped he couldn't see through her lie.
"Should we continue then?" Adrien asked, gesturing towards the camera.
Marinette lifted it once more as he started to run a hand through his hair, stopping his fingers midway through. She hated that he was so natural at this. It was unpleasantly irritating.
After snapping a few photos, Marinette brought down the camera and let it hang around her neck.
As soon as she did, Adrien's phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and after seeing who it was, he ignored it and placed it back into his pocket. When he saw Marinette looking he said, "Nothing important."
Marinette frowned slightly. Was it the text or the person he felt wasn't important enough to answer? With that thought, she realized his usual crowd of admirers wasn't lingering around him.
"Where's your fanclub?" she couldn't stop herself from asking. "They never seem to follow you in the library for some reason." She thought back to the day before.
Adrien didn't seemed shocked by her question. "If by fanclub, you mean the people that hang around me - I told them I was going home before coming here. I thought it would be easier on you without them hovering."
Marinette grit her teeth.
"Most of them are nice people though," he admitted, looking into the unseen distance. "Calling them a fanclub makes it seem like they don't have minds of their own."
"It is kind of mindless following someone around all day for no reason," she retorted, tapping a table with her fingers. "I'm not sure why they bother."
Adrien shifted his hardened green eyes back to her and laughed hollowly. "You can't be jealous, so what's your problem with me?"
Marinette grimaced, backing away slightly. "I think I've got enough photos." She didn't know what was stopping her from telling him that everything was wrong.
"Thanks for doing this, by the way." Maybe she didn't know how to begin.
It wasn't fair to leave him in the dark, but a small part of Marinette believed that he knew exactly what he had done. She had so many questions and most of them revolved around why he had gone through with it, but she didn't want Adrien to think things were all of a sudden normal between them again. Gripping the camera in her hands, she turned to leave.
"Marinette, wait-" he said, but she was already on her way out of the library. Her brain was developing a headache.
Why was this happening to her?
/\
What had he done?
Adrien stared at her as she left quickly. He didn't know what to do. Was he supposed to run after her and beg for forgiveness, even though he had no idea what he'd done? He was in a state of shock and confusion.
He picked up his bag from one of the library tables and slung it over his shoulders. Those words… It held a certain venom to them. But why? Why was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, one of the kindest people he knew, angry with him?
Maybe she was different now. Maybe she wasn't as kindhearted as she'd once been.
But that didn't make sense. He'd seen her shoot smiles at people in the hallways, and she couldn't have been elected their grade's class president for nothing.
So it had to be something about him.
Sighing with frustration, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He knew it was Nathalie, and he knew he was overstepping his boundaries once again. It was so soon after his father had warned him about staying after school, but he ignored his phone's rings anyway.
He threw a glance at Alix fast asleep at the checkout counter before leaving the room. As he expected, Marinette was nowhere to be seen in the hallway.
"That was kind of rough," he heard Plagg mumble in his bag.
"No kidding," Adrien muttered. He had thought everything had been okay, especially since they had spoken with each other the day before. He just didn't understand.
Walking out of the school, he found himself not wanting to go home just yet. Nathalie, and his father if he ever heard about it, was going to be absolutely livid with him for ignoring her.
Aimlessly, he began walking through the city. Maybe he would stop to look at the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower reminded him of the dream he had this morning.
Ladybug.
Adrien needed the routine of defeating an akuma with Ladybug to get his mind off Marinette. And also, for some reason, he wanted to see her just because. He wasn't sure how it would go, seeing her after the kiss and all, but he still wanted to meet up with her.
He found himself silently wishing for an akumatized civilian to appear. If only there was some way he could contact Ladybug. Why didn't they have each other's phone numbers? He made a silent note to himself to ask her the next time he saw her.
As he neared the Eiffel Tower, he felt a prickling dread on the back of his neck that someone was watching him. He stopped suddenly, causing several passing pedestrians to give him a weird look. Adrien scanned the faces of many, but he couldn't quite pinpoint anyone who was looking directly at him for longer than a second.
Deciding it was all in his head, he continued walking. Out of the corner of his eye, he spot a dark car slinking along the street. Was it just his imagination, or was the car keeping up with him?
Adrien walked a few more quick paces before looking back at the car. It was still following him. Adrien didn't feel right; he needed to get somewhere where he could transform into Chat Noir. He would feel safer as the masked hero.
Taking a sharp turn into an empty alleyway, he took off in a sprint. He heard the faint sound of a car door being slammed and someone breaking into a run behind him. He didn't bother to look back, but it ended up he would be forced to when he reached the alley's dead end.
Fantastic, Adrien thought. At least I stood a chance with all the pedestrians around me earlier.
There was no time to transform now. As he stood with his back pressed against the dead end's brick wall, he squinted to try and see who the attacker was as he or she came barreling down the alleyway.
Who was it? Was it an akumatized victim? Did Hawkmoth finally find out his true identity?
With a sudden quickness, the large figure stopped in front of Adrien. In the dim lighting of the alleyway, he looked up to see the Gorilla. Adrien let out a sigh of relief. Wait, what was he doing here?
"Adrien Agreste," the buff man's low voice rang out. "Come with me."
Adrien didn't know he had been shaking until he stopped. He followed the Gorilla as he walked back towards the dark car at the other end of the alleyway.
"What are you doing here?" Adrien asked him, trying to make eye contact. The Gorilla looked straight forward. "How did you find me? What's with the new car?"
"The limo would have caused a scene," the Gorilla said. "Nathalie sent me to your school when you didn't answer your phone, and I followed you from when you came out. You're in big trouble." He stopped suddenly and pushed a finger into Adrien's chest for emphasis.
Adrien sighed irritably and climbed into the Gorilla's car. He hoped Nathalie hadn't notified his father of his failure to make it home on time the second day in a row.
As he leaned his head back against headrest of the seat, he thought about what had just happened. He was so sure that he had been toast if it had actually been an attacker. A random thought popped up in his head. Would Ladybug have come to save him? He wasn't sure he wanted her to see him so weak and typical as Adrien Agreste.
Turned out it hadn't been an attacker or kidnapper who caused harm to Adrien, which is what his father warned him about; it ended up being the Gorilla giving him a heart attack.
This was turning out to be a miserable day.