LEGAL: Mean and Enchanted (Speak Now) are both owned by Taylor Swift. Simply adding flavor to the story.

Updated 6/9/23

June 26, 2015

Why does Lila have to be so cruel?

Marinette struggled to withhold her tears as she tore out the ruined images from her new sketchbook. The dying light of the sunset highlighted the giant coffee stain on the customized front cover along with the now brown pages where the coffee had seeped through. Marinette knew that Lila had spilled her coffee on purpose, but there was no way to prove it. The girl had played up the 'accident' very well. Even Mrs. Bustier was fooled.

And Adrien had been checked out for an afternoon photoshoot when the incident had occurred, so she couldn't even confide in the one person who knew about Lila's tricks! Marinette stifled a sob as she crumbled up the ruined sketches towards the railing. She didn't even flinch at the sound of someone landing on her balcony.

"Hey, Marinette- Marinette!" Chat Noir rushed over to his friend. "Hey… what's wrong?" He picked up the clearly stained sketchbook. "What happened?"

Marinette wiped her nose across her arm, not caring how dignified she looked. "A girl in my class spilled coffee all over my sketchbook today at school. I know she did it on purpose, but I can't do anything about it." She brought her knees to her chest so she could bury her face.

Chat scooted closer to the girl, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I am so sorry, Marinette. But… I don't understand… Why can't you say anything?" The boy's heart began to race as he felt Marinette lean towards him.

"It's nothing, Chat. There wasn't much in that sketchbook yet, anyway. I just… I hate that those particular ideas are unusable now."

"How come?" Chat leaned forward to grab one of the discarded pages. He smoothed out the wrinkles. "It looks pretty easy to redraw or even trace!"

Marinette shook her head. "The creative headspace I was in when I originally drew those is long gone. If I tried to redraw it, it would be missing that original creative spark." She took the page from Chat. "I guess I can keep them, maybe pin them to my vision board in case they spark a new design or something. But these particular designs… they're creatively dead."

Chat drew Marinette in for a deeper hug. Who would've purposefully spilled coffee on Marinette? Maybe Chloe? She's had it out for Marinette for a while now… Lila? Would she stoop this low? "Again, I'm so sorry, Marinette. I-I wish I'd been there to help."

The girl smiled, wiping away the few tears that'd fallen. "Well, it's done now; no use crying over it." She opened the sketchbook to the new front page. The coffee stain hadn't made it to this page or beyond. "I was planning on sketching the skyline to… I don't know… reset my creativity?" Marinette sighed. "It's hard to explain."

"Don't worry about it." Chat patted her shoulder, then pushed himself to standing. "I'll leave you to it…" He was suddenly tugged back. Looking down at Marinette, Chat was surprised to see that Marinette had grabbed his tail. She looked surprised that she'd grabbed his tail. "Marinette?"

"Well," The girl bit her lip. "You don't have to leave…"

Chat blinked. "I wouldn't be a distraction? I don't want to disrupt your 'creative reset'."

"It…" Marinette took a deep breath. "It would be nice to have some company." She fiddled with her phone. "Do you mind if I put on some music?"

"Not at all." Chat settled himself onto the beanbag Marinette had brought out at some point over the past week (almost like she was expecting him to come back by at some point…). "This is your time, Princess. You do what you gotta do." He smiled as his quip had the desired effect of a giggle from Marinette. His ear twitched as a slightly familiar tune came over her phone speaker. "Is that… Taylor Swift?"

"After the day I had… seemed like a good idea." Marinette glanced at the skyline. Night had now fully fallen and the city's skyline was lit up - perfect for sketching.

Chat Noir shifted so he was curled up within the beanbag, almost like a cat bed. "You know, I would never guess that you were a fan of Jagged Stone, but Taylor Swift makes more sense to me. Her aesthetic fits more, ya know?"

"I guess…" Marinette erased a stray line on the paper. "I would call myself a "selective Swiftie". I like certain songs of hers, but I like the majority of the songs on Speak Now. Besides," She turned up the volume as Mean continued. "I'm kinda feeling this one right now."

Someday, I'll be living in a big old city

And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me

And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?

As the night grew later, Marinette continued sketching. Chat switched between watching the moon rise over the skyline and the moon playing off of the dark of Marinette's hair. His hand twitched from the restraint of not tucking a stray piece of hair behind the girl's ear. It physically hurt to be right next to his Lady without her knowing the truth. But Chat knew that now was not the time. Ladybug kept Chat Noir at a distance because of the danger of knowing each other's identities. Marinette seemed to keep Adrien at a distance, despite the admission of having a crush on him. He would need to get to the bottom of that soon, or at the very least try to get closer to her as Adrien as well.

Chat's attention once again shifted as a new song came on. With how long the teens had been listening, the song must've come on previously, but it caught Chat's attention this time around.

There I was again tonight

Forcing laughter, faking smiles

Same old tired, lonely place

Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy

Chat knew a little bit of what happened within the social dynamic before he and Alya had joined Françoise Dupont. He knew that Marinette had been Chloe's punching bag for years. He hoped that his being there this past year had lessened her torment. The boy knew that he needed to talk to Chloe, but it was hard to confront one's oldest (and basically only) friend. Maybe he had a bit more time…

Vanished when I saw your face

All I can say is, it was enchanting to meet you

But Marinette… Ladybug… Chat glanced over at the girl as her blinks became slower and slower. She would be falling asleep soon.

What would his life be like without this super amazing girl? Chat leaned his head against the brick. He truly hated that he wasn't at school today to help prevent the coffee fiasco. He knew how much Marinette cherished her sketchbooks. She'd already filled up two in the year that he'd known her.

The memory of a conversation with Nino and Alya leapt to the forefront of his mind. Marinette's birthday was in less than a month! In addition to helping with Alya's idea of a surprise party, maybe he could get her a fancy sketchbook. Even better, it could be a gift from Adrien! Maybe he could make something for her too! The wheels of his mind kept spinning as the song continued.

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go

I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

This night is flawless, don't you let it go

I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you

Please don't be in love with someone else

Please don't have somebody waiting on you

Yes, Chat loved Ladybug. And because they're the same person, he loved Marinette. Chat Noir knew the least about Marinette as a person, so he can't wait to get to know her better. He hoped that he was right about keeping his identity a secret for now...

Another glance at the girl proved how much he knew her already: she was slumped over fast asleep. Chat grinned as he finally tucked that stray piece of hair behind her ear. Setting the sketchbook aside, he took Marinette in his arms so she could wake up in her own bed.


The next morning, Marinette awoke to a peculiar sight: a lavender rose laying atop her sketchbook.