Okay, here's everything you need to know before diving into this story:
- This is a rewrite of the Miraculous movie.
- Adrien is the main character, but Marinette is still heavily featured.
- The love square is reversed, meaning LB falls for Chat and Adrien falls for Marinette.
- There'll be about 18 chapters in total. (16 chapters have already been written.)
- Don't worry- there will still be a happy ending when all is said and done.
- The songs are still included, but I rewrote them to fit the opposite character e.g. Mari's songs are all Adrien's and vice versa. If you can't hear the tunes in your head, feel free to read the songs as edgy poetry! (But also, they're only like 2% of the story, so they're pretty easy to ignore if you really hate songfics.)
- This version is gonna be a lot darker than the original movie. So content warnings for: panic attacks, swearing, suicidal ideation, depression, abuse (physical, psychological, and also in the form of child neglect), mild blood, PTSD, and non-graphic depictions of a car crash.
Hope you enjoy :D
Chapter 1: I'm falling for you
Adrien's eyes remained glued to the calendar that was stuck on the bedroom wall in front of him. Today's date, which he'd circled with a red pen, told him two things. One, it was day 172. And two, it was the 1st of September.
Today, every other French kid his age was going back to school. He imagined most of them were probably upset about it, after spending their whole Summer having fun or earning money. But now they were waking up early, getting ready, packing bags, and reuniting with friends.
Every other kid. Except Adrien. Instead he was still sitting on the edge of his bed, still in his pajamas, with absolutely nothing to get ready for.
And that was the big problem, wasn't it? The reason he'd circled this particular day in the first place. Because maybe he could've been. He was sure that if he'd pleaded with his dad (or well, Nathalie), he could've persuaded them to let him go to school. If he'd really wanted to.
But he hadn't.
He hadn't said anything. He hadn't done anything. He'd been weighing up the decision all summer, throwing it back and forth in his mind but at the end of the day, he just wasn't sure if he was ready.
He could blame his dad for being overprotective all he wanted but Adrien knew the truth.
Nobody was holding him back except for himself.
Learning on his arms, he let his head fall backward and laughed humorlessly.
If I Could Just Be Free
( If I Believed In Me – Adrien edition)
"What I'd achieve
If I could just be free.
I could enjoy the world and boy,
There's so much mystery.
But I'm stuck in this slump.
All my limbs, they feel like junk.
To a degree,
I just can't find the key."
He stood up and walked over to the window to get a better look at the hustle and bustle going on, all of which were completely ignorant to his watchful eyes.
"What would it be like
To live another way of life?
Take days as they come,
But back into the hole
I succumb.
Outside my window,
I see the people come and go.
They all have problems,
But they still get on with their lives though."
He took a deep breath, stretching his arms out and suddenly he was standing among the busy streets that had only been a spectacle for the last several months, voices overlapping and people bumping into him and car engines roaring.
"If I could flee
Just up along the streets.
I'd feel the wind and have to grin,
Be taller than the trees.
I'll walk around the park.
Seems like a good place to start,
But I believe
It's never that easy."
He blinked and the vision dissolved, leaving him once again isolated and alone in his messy bedroom.
"They say it's normal, what I feel.
'A trauma response'.
But to feel anything is ideal.
Instead, I'm just dry.
I have no more tears to cry.
The whole world has stilled
And I try, but inside,
There's no will."
Adrien wandered over to his closet and pulled it open. Nestled in the corner was a neatly folded pile of clothes, consisting of his favorite shirt and jeans. He hesitantly pulled them out.
"But could I change things?
Maybe I won't hide.
Although the hurt stings,
I have to find my pride.
I'll say to me,
'Turn over a new leaf'.
It might be hard with all these scars,
Too caught up in my grief.
I could even make friends,
Then I won't have to pretend
To be happy.
I'll have to wait...
And see!"
"Adrien?"
Adrien, too distracted to have heard Nathalie open the door, spun round to face her, only to realize she'd walked in on him appearing to be victoriously holding his shirt up in the air.
"Nathalie," he greeted, quickly tossing the item of clothing behind him onto the bed.
"I've spoken with your father," she said, gripping tightly to the clipboard in her hands. "It's been decided. You're starting school today."
Adrien froze. A myriad of thoughts and emotions bombarded him at once. He decided to focus on the most prominent one.
"My father couldn't have told me this himself?"
Nathalie's expression softened. "I've already had that exact conversation with him. But he wouldn't be swayed. He's very... caught up in his work right now. I'm sure he'll talk with you soon."
"Right. Okay, yeah." Adrien shoved his hands deep into his pockets and inspected the floor, as he and Nathalie continued to awkwardly stand in front of each other. "Um... I've been thinking. Would it be alright if I... walked to school myself? And didn't get driven there?"
As much as she tried to hide it, he saw a hint of a smile creep up onto her face. "I knew you would ask that, too. And well, we've settled on a compromise. He still doesn't want you walking there yourself, but he's going to let you carpool with a friend."
Adrien raised an eyebrow. Considering he only had one friend, it wasn't much of a guess. It just so happened that said friend was rich enough to also have her own personal driver.
"Be ready in twenty minutes, alright?" With that, Nathalie disappeared back through the door, leaving Adrien disoriented and trying to process this new information.
He was going to school, after all.
He was finally leaving his house. In just under an hour, he was going to be in a building, surrounded by other children, learning things in a classroom, and — he took a hesitant sniff at the front of his shirt and recoiled in response — he couldn't remember the last time he'd taken a shower.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
Adrien methodically trudged down the stone steps outside his house, with shoes on his feet and a schoolbag at his hip. The shower had done wonders on his disheveled hair, and now it was almost as presentable as his outfit.
The feeling of surrealism clouded his mind. Surely this wasn't real, right? In a few minutes, he was going to wake back up and realize that his dad would never actually send him back to school. It was just a prank his subconscious was playing on him because it knew that deep down, he really wanted this—
The door to the car parked in his driveway flew open.
"Finally!" a familiar voice rang out, shattering the dreamlike facade and pulling him back into reality. "I was starting to think you'd bailed on me again."
Adrien stepped up to the car and awkwardly shuffled himself into the seat before shutting the door behind him, suddenly encompassed by the overwhelming scent of perfume that seemed to fill the entire vehicle.
"Hey, Chlo... Long time, no see."
The car rumbled back to life and began its journey through the traffic of Paris.
"I'll say!" his friend of twelve years said, reaching over to playfully push his shoulder. "I was in complete disbelief when Pierre here told me we'd be making a pit stop at your house. Such an awfully kind thing to him to do, don't you think?"
"You're welcome, mademoiselle," Pierre said in a weary tone. Adrien couldn't blame him. Driving Chloé Bourgeois around must've been a tiring experience.
"Go back to focusing on the road!" Chloé snapped with a dismissive wave of her hand, before turning her attention back on the boy beside her. "It's so good to see you again, Adrikins. Of course, I wouldn't have minded seeing you over the Summer. But you never bothered to text me back. What was that about, huh?"
"Yeah... Sorry about that." Adrien shrugged dejectedly.
Chloé sighed. "No, look, forget I said that. I get it, okay? If I were you, I probably wouldn't have wanted to talk to anyone either."
Their conversation lulled for a moment, so Adrien cleared his throat. "I, um, I did miss you, y'know? It was weird not having you around to nag at me about being too much of an 'absolute doormat' or how lame my choice of shoes were."
She shook her head. "We're not talking about those Converses ever again. But yeah... I guess I've missed you, too. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to starting this school year without you. I know I have Sabrina and everything, but most people suck. They're a bunch of lowlifes who get on my nerves to an irrational degree."
Adrien smirked. "Maybe they wouldn't if you were nicer to them."
Chloé scoffed and folded her arms. "I am nice! Sometimes. When I want to be. Hell, I'm nice to you, aren't I?"
"Debatable," he replied, earning himself another shove to the shoulder.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
"Marinette?"
Upon hearing the very faint and far-away call of her name, the girl in question groggily opened her eyes. A persistent and irritating noise was ringing through her head. She tried to ignore it, letting her eyes close shut once more.
"Marinette!" the faint but familiar voice yelled again. "You're going to be late!"
"Late?" she croaked. Late for what? What was happening right now? Why was everything in the world trying to prevent her from going back to sleep? The ringing in her head wasn't stopping. In fact, it didn't even seem to be coming from inside her at all, but from slightly to the left. Marinette slowly turned her head in that direction, only to be met with her pink alarm clock. Still persistently and irritatingly ringing.
8:47.
Her eyes widened.
"LATE!" she squawked, sitting bolt upright in bed and slamming the alarm clock into silence. "FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! OH SHIT!"
She threw her blankets out the way and slid down the ladder to the floor below, barely stopping to breathe as she grabbed her schoolbag, shoving books and stationary equipment into it whilst simultaneously kicking off her pajamas and pulling a fresh shirt over her head.
Two minutes and thirty-six seconds later, Marinette came crashing down the staircase of the attic that was her bedroom. "I'M COMING, MOM!"
And maybe she'd swallowed the mouthwash instead of spitting it out, and maybe her jeans were on backwards and her pigtails were a little uneven, but at least she was ready.
She slammed open the doors to the bakery on the ground floor, taking a moment to lean on her knees and pant. A few startled customers in the store turned to look at her in bewilderment.
"With nine minutes to spare!" Sabine congratulated her, peering up from behind the counter. "Sorry, sweetie. I would've woken you up myself if the bakery hadn't been so busy. Do you have your lunch money?"
"Yep! Front pocket," Marinette said, precariously balancing on one foot as she wrestled her shoe on.
"And your pencil case? Because last time, you—"
"I've remembered everything, Mom, I swear." She grabbed a croissant off the counter and shoved it in her mouth before making a beeline for the front door, expertly swerving through the queue of customers.
"Have a nice day!" her mom called after her.
"MTHWAN KOU!" Marinette shot back, aggressively trying to chew the croissant into smaller pieces. She threw herself into the street and began racing down the road. Her watch told her it was 8:52, meaning she had eight minutes to complete a fifteen-minute walk.
Alright. Challenge accepted. Marinette swallowed back the final morsels of her breakfast and then shifted gear, sprinting as fast as her legs would allow her, shoes that definitely weren't designed for running slamming against the sidewalk, backpack swinging wildly from one shoulder, turning corner after corner of a route she knew by heart.
Her new school year was going to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and it was going to see her on time.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
Adrien's eyes nervously danced around the onslaught of people loitering outside of the school as he and Chloé walked toward them. Most of them were busy chatting away in their small groups, but a few heads turned to look at him.
He couldn't read their faces and that scared him. Did they recognize him? Did they know? And if so, how much did they know?
He felt Chloé's arm slink around his, linking them together. "See what I mean?" she muttered. "Bunch of lowlifes."
Adrien swallowed thickly and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Chloé's methods of reassurance were unique to say the least, but he appreciated it all the same.
Her show of support lasted all of five seconds.
"SABRINA!" the blonde girl shrieked, promptly dropping his arm and dashing forward to throw her arms around her best friend, almost knocking the two coffees Sabrina was holding out of her hands.
Adrien suddenly felt a lot less brave now that he was standing alone. He stayed paralyzed, feet glued to the floor and his palms starting to sweat from clutching his bag strap too tightly. This was a mistake. He should've convinced Nathalie not to let him go. But now it was too late to back out and, oh god, was that girl over there whispering about him—?
"Adrien Agreste?"
At the sound of his name, Adrien glanced over his shoulder to see a boy with glasses and a red cap. He was in the process of pulling headphones away from his ears as he stared at Adrien inquisitively.
It took Adrien's brain a few moments to connect the dots, but recognition finally won out.
"Nino Lahiffe?"
"Yeah!" the boy said, making his way over to him. "Wow, I didn't expect to see you here. How've you been?" He recoiled with a wince. "Wait, don't answer that! That was a stupid question."
Adrien's shoulders slumped in realization. "Everyone knows, don't they?"
So much for just blending in with the masses. Now he was never going to shake the pitying and curious looks that seemed to glare down on him from all sides. He was never going to be rid of that very unflattering spotlight.
"I think so," Nino mumbled, pushing up his glasses. "But... look dude, it's really great to know you're back. Things weren't the same after you left."
Adrien blinked. "We were literally just lab partners."
"Yeah, but you left before we finished the project! I had to do twice the work for the exact same grade. I mean, I understand why you left, but what I'm trying to say is— well..." Nino sheepishly adjusted his hat. "You were kind of like my only friend."
Adrien was rather taken aback by this information. And now he felt a little guilty he hadn't made more of an effort to spend time with him outside of class.
Before his whole world had fallen apart, of course.
Determined to make up for lost time, he came to a decision. "What's your first lesson? Maybe we're in the same class."
Nino fished a crumpled timetable out of his pocket and scrutinized it. "History with Mme Bustier."
"Mine too!" Adrien said, having memorized his entire timetable during the car journey. "The bell's about to go. Wanna head there together?"
Nino opened his mouth to reply, before an interruption in the shape of a frazzled-looking girl with dark pigtails came blazing through the crowd. She skidded to a halt a few feet away from Adrien, panting heavily, face completely red and hair thoroughly windswept.
"YES! And with three minutes to spare!" the girl cheered, pumping her fist in the air.
Adrien couldn't take his eyes off her. She was familiar, yes, but the memories he associated with her were vague. All he could recall was occasionally passing her in the corridors on their way to different classes over the last few years. But they'd never shared a class. He surely would've remembered her if they'd been sat in the same room together.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Chloé seethed, snapping him out of his stupor.
At the exact same time, everybody — including the girl — realized that in her haste to get to the school, she had knocked the coffee cup from Chloé's hand, causing her to spill the brown liquid all over the front of her own shirt.
And naturally, everybody — including the girl — knew exactly what was about to happen next.
Adrien geared himself up to talk his friend down from the ledge.
"Chloé—"
"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS SWEATER COST?" Chloé exploded, advancing on the girl, who began backing away in utter terror. "Probably more money than you'll ever make in your entire life, you harebrained street trash!"
"It-it was an accident!" the girl stammered, shrinking in on herself. "I didn't see you—"
"Oh okay, I guess that means my sweater isn't ruined then!" Chloé grabbed the front of the girl's shirt. "It's just my imagination, huh? We've been here all of thirty seconds, Dupain-Cheng, and already you're messing everything up for me! Like you always do!"
Walk forward, Adrien demanded of himself. Say something!
His demands were ignored.
"I swear to god, you are SO—" Chloé stopped dead upon noticing a phone being held up towards her, its light flashing as it recorded the scene in front. The phone was attached to the hand of a girl with glasses and a reddish-brown ombre of hair; one Adrien definitely didn't recognize at all.
"Don't stop on my account," the phone girl said with a wink. "I'm just the fly on the wall."
"—clumsy," Chloé finished in a sugar-sweet tone, letting the girl go and begrudgingly flattening her shirt back down. "But that's okay! Accidents happen."
She turned on her heel and walked away, ponytail swinging from side to side.
Adrien tried to grab her wrist as she stomped past him. "Chloé, wait—"
"Sabrina!" Chloé snapped, yanking her hand out of his reach. "Let's go! We have a class to get to."
Adrien watched his friend and Sabrina vanish through the school doors, before glancing back at the two other girls, who now seemed to be deeply engrossed in a conversation together.
"Who are they?" he asked, after his periphery had alerted him to Nino's presence by his side.
"That's Marinette," Nino said, pointing. "And that's... I actually have no idea. I think she's new. But hey! She's kinda pretty, right?"
"Yeah..." said Adrien, eyes not leaving Marinette's crystalline blue ones. "She is."
"Um, by the way, dude." Nino nudged him in the arm. "Aren't you, uh, friends with Chloé?"
Adrien turned to face him properly. "She's not usually like that."
Nino rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Uh, yeah, she is. Maybe she got worse after you left. But seriously, even you must remember the absolute hell she put everybody in our school through."
He did. Memories of Chloé laughing cruelly at people's accidents and making snide comments about their flaws swirled in the deepest recesses of his mind. But Adrien tried not to think too hard about them. Because if he was going to admit his childhood friend was a bully, he would also have to admit he'd never really done a whole lot to stop her.
"It's complicated," he decided on.
The school bell blew through his ears immediately afterwards (briefly making Adrien wish he'd remembered to bring his earbuds), and this put an end to any and all potential conversations.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
Marinette shoved her hands into the sink and rubbed them together at supersonic speed before wiping them dry on her jacket. Missing class, even for a few minutes, was not part of her plan. Especially not when they were in the middle of fabrication.
Maybe don't chug a whole bottle of coke next time, she chided herself, grabbing the bathroom door and yanking it open.
The girl standing directly behind it made her heart temporarily stop. Marinette squeaked and jumped backward.
"I need to talk to you," Chloé said curtly, hands on hips. The brown stain on her sweater was still very noticeable.
"Look, I'm sorry about the coffee." Marinette hated how her wavering voice completely gave away how she felt. "It was an accident, and I-I won't do it again. I won't even go near you with a five-foot pole. Just leave me alone, okay?!" She pushed past Chloé and stomped out into the hallway.
"Wait!" Chloé yelled after her, causing her stomping to quickly evolve into frantic sprinting.
゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜
Adrien, sat at a desk in the corner of his school's large library, leaned heavily against his hand as he thumbed through a book about horticulture. His eyes scanned over the occasional word, but he wasn't truly reading it.
He was simply enjoying the peace he'd been longing for more and more as the day dragged on. Enjoying the vibrant rays of midday sunlight streaming in through the windows above. Enjoying the company of the dusty old books that he'd actually missed quite a lot, because Adrien had always been a library kid at heart. There was something so tranquil about having such a large room entirely to himself.
All in all, Adrien's first day back at school had gone exactly how he'd expected it to go. And yet he'd still been woefully unprepared. After Mme Bustier had let him 'sit wherever he wanted' and Rose had 'given him extra hugs' and Max had 'written all his notes for him', as well as an embarrassingly large list of many other things, Adrien had started to feel the ever-so-tiniest-bit micromanaged.
He appreciated his classmates. He did. So much. So he'd just sucked it up and let them help in the only way they knew how. But about halfway through the second period, those kind gestures had started to topple over into overwhelming smothering. So now he was hiding. They'd accepted his sloppy excuse about 'needing some space' without much protest because, well, of course they had. Adrien could probably tell them he was dealing with his trauma by identifying as an elephant and his classmates would believe him, no questions asked.
Okay, maybe there would be a few questions.
The crash of the library doors broke him out of his ridiculous musings. Adrien snapped his head up in time to catch a glimpse of a familiar dark-haired girl as she ran into the room and disappeared behind a large bookshelf.
Considering classes weren't scheduled to end for another twenty minutes, Adrien hadn't been expecting any company yet, least of all from Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
He debated just leaving her alone. Maybe she hadn't even seen him on her way in. Maybe she had, but would strongly prefer for them to continue ignoring each other. In which case, he should just stay put. But his curiosity was piqued and he wasn't sure when he'd get another chance to talk to her, since (to his disappointment) she wasn't in the same class as him.
Adrien abandoned the musky-smelling book on the table and headed toward the shelf he'd seen her run behind. He peered round the corner and sure enough, there she was, pressing her face into a book she'd grabbed off the rack and muttering to herself.
"—gonna have to change my name, dye my hair—"
"Marinette?"
Marinette let out a scream of unholy terror and reeled backwards, crashing into an unsteady stack of books. She covered her head with her arms as the heavy volumes all tumbled down upon her one by one, before slamming into the floor at her feet.
"What the hell?!" she gasped, rubbing the side of her head as she glared at him with fury. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry!" Adrien held his hands up with a wince. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? I didn't, uh... Here, let me help." He dropped to his knees and began collecting the fallen books. "I swear, I didn't mean to startle you."
Marinette sighed and squatted down to help him. "No, it's okay. I'm just a little on edge today."
Adrien finished his task and stood back up, dusting off his hands. "If it's alright for me to ask... What are you doing?"
"What am I doing?" Marinette repeated, shoving the last book back on top of the pile. "I'm hiding in the library from a deranged sociopath! But since I've never once seen Chloé pick up a book in her entire life, I think I'm safe in here." She shot him a suspicious sideways glance. "Anyway, what are you doing? You know my name, but I'm pretty sure we've never met before."
"Right, sorry." He self-consciously took a step back from her. "My name's Adrien. I was just... I wanted to see if you were alright. I saw what happened this morning."
Marinette adjusted one of her pigtails. "Listen, Adrien. I appreciate the concern. But I've been dealing with Chloé for most of my life now. Some things never change, and I know exactly what to expect. I just... It's a long school year, and all I want to do is avoid her for as much of it as possible."
Something about the way she was talking to him felt different. But Adrien didn't know exactly what it was or why. "That's not fair. You shouldn't have to live your life like that."
Marinette shrugged and folded her arms, eyes downcast. "Like I said, some things never change."
Adrien hated it. Hated how someone as bright and lively as Marinette could be completely broken down by someone he considered to be his friend. Chloé had been right about one thing. He was an absolute doormat. Adrien clenched his fists as a new resolve washed over him. He wasn't going to let this go on any longer.
"Maybe they can. I'll talk to her."
She raised an eyebrow. "You? Talk to Chloé?"
"Well, yeah. We're friends."
At least, he hoped.
Marinette guffawed. "What? No way. I don't believe it. You're way too..." She gestured at him awkwardly. "...kind."
Adrien felt his cheeks heat up at the compliment. Then his smile fell again and he shook his head. "No. If I was kind, then I would've done something a lot sooner."
"Well. As I like to say, late is always better than never," Marinette said, her eyes finding his. Maybe it was hard to tell because of the light reflecting off them, but he could only describe her expression as wistful. "And hey, at least you're doing something."
She abruptly turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him standing in the library by himself. It took him a few moments to finally realize what felt so different. And when he did, his heart settled into a confusing sped-up rhythm.
Marinette was the first person in this entire school to not treat him like he was made out of glass.