Takes place at least after season 2 episode 'Troublemaker.' Ladybug has saved Adrien at least 3 times by then (if I got the order roughly correct)

Ladrien June 2024

Day #14: Upside Down Kiss

Ladybug's earrings chimed in her ear extra loud and more frequent. She knew what it meant; she was about to transform back.

She'd used her lucky charm. She hadn't meant to.

All she had been planning to do was watch Adrien's photo shoot. His father wasn't allowing him to have any friends join him that day so she couldn't go as Marinette and watch from the sidelines. So instead, she had gone as Ladybug and watched from a neighboring rooftop.

And it was a good thing that she was there and already transformed when disaster struck.

The generator that powered all the lights and equipment overheated and burst into flames. The fire spread fast all over the shoot site, causing everyone to run away in a panic.

Instead of waiting for the fire department, Ladybug decided to use her lucky charm, hoping that it would give her something to help right then and there.

Living up to its name, it gave her a fire extinguisher.

Ladybug jumped in and sprayed down the generator first. Then she saw that more of the fire had spread and had surrounded Adrien. She jumped to him, told him to stay low, and sprayed all around them. When the fires were out, she calmly brought him to his evacuated crew just outside the park.

Sadly, because this wasn't caused by an akuma, she couldn't throw the extinguisher up into the air and call on her miraculous cure to repair all the damage. But at least no one was hurt.

The crew understood and were just grateful to her for saving them.

And no one was more grateful than Adrien.

Ladybug had swooped in and saved him from burning. She had saved him other times but this was different. There was no akuma after him so the danger was over with much quicker than before. He felt a great desire to thank her properly. For this time and the last couple.

He wished that he could interact with her more when he wasn't Chat Noir. Especially since she didn't seem to like Chat Noir. At least, not in the way he wished she did.

He wanted to thank her, shower her in praise, and show her just how much he admired her. But by the time he got close to her again, her miraculous was timing out. So she ran off down a nearby alley.

Adrien refused to give up his chance of getting to calmly talk to her as himself. So, while everyone else was distracted with the clean-up, Adrien ran after her, down the same alley.

~*LB+AA*~

Her earrings chimed again, really loud. Fortunately, after turning several corners down several different alleys, she was confident that she was far enough away from prying eyes to let her spots fall.

Marinette stood there with Tikki resting in her hand. She pulled a pink macaroon from her purse and let her eat.

When she was about half done with it, they both startled, hearing a familiar voice call out for her.

"Ladybug!" It was Adrien! He was looking for her?! Marinette immediately hid behind a nearby trash can. "Where are you?" he said out loud. He sounded close. "I…I just wanted to thank you for saving me and the others," he continued. Marinette's panic at being discovered melted away to flattery. He was just trying to thank her. The few times she had interacted with him while she was transformed had been brief and rushed, with her protecting him from akumas and all. But now that the danger was over, he still wanted to see her. He hadn't seen Marinette as anything more than a friend. But maybe he'd feel differently when calmly face to face with Ladybug. When Tikki assured her that she was energized enough, her holder whispered her transformation words. Adrien continued searching through the alleyways. "Are you still here?" he called out again. He knew she was most likely detransformed, but he wasn't out to try to see her without her mask. He figured if he was close enough, she'd say something and he'd stop and/or close his eyes straight away. But so far, he hadn't gotten any hint that she was near. He must have missed her. "What am I doing? She's probably long gone," he lamented.

Right behind him, against the wall of a building, Ladybug repelled down from her yoyo string.

"Or maybe she's not."

Adrien jumped, startled but smiled upon turning around and seeing the spotted heroine behind him, dangling upside down.

"Ladybug!" he said excitedly, approaching her. Her head was about level with his own. "I…wow," he said, at loss for words. He had never been before when around her as Chat Noir. But he wasn't Chat Noir at the moment. He had to be careful. "Um, thank you." Good start.

"It's what I do," she said casually, like it was no big deal. But it was, to him.

"I'm not just talking about today. Those other times you saved me," he told her. "I don't think I thanked you for those either."

"There's no need. Besides, with your knack for getting into trouble, I'm sure you'll get to say it enough in the future," she said, teasingly. Somehow, she wasn't sure how, but wearing the mask didn't just give her more confidence to fight villains, but to also speak to Adrien with more confidence.

Adrien grinned at her playful remark. He liked this a lot. He could play this game with her. "Well, with your knack for saving my life, you must know where I am a lot," he replied cockily. He raised a playfully suspicious eyebrow at her. "Have you been stalking me, my lady?" He was extra careful not to say milady. Then she'd definitely know who he also was. My lady was different enough and just as appropriate for her.

Ladybug smirked. "Well, someone's got to protect that handsome face of yours," she flirted, only to quickly pinch her lips shut and look away. Had she really just said that out loud? And to Adrien's face?! Adrien blushed and his smirk dropped in flattered shocked. She thought he was handsome? "I mean…I-I was in the neighborhood. That's all," she said in a nervously fast tone.

When she dared to look back at him again, Adrien had a sweet little grin on his handsome face. "Well I'm glad that you were," he said, gazing at her adoringly. "You are…" Amazing? Incredible? Beautiful? They were all true but also not good enough in his opinion. "Wonderful," he settled on. Close enough.

Ladybug bashfully glanced away again for a second. "That's sweet of you to say," she said, looking back at him. "And you're welcome."

"I just…" Adrien sighed, at a loss for words again. This was his big chance and he was hesitating. He wished he could just do it but it felt wrong to without asking her first if it was okay. "I'd love to show you how grateful I am. And how much I admire and adore you."

Ladybug's heart beat picked up. "Show me how?"

Adrien hesitated again but stepped a bit closer to her, staring at her lips. Her mouth was at the same level as his.

"May I…kiss you?" he asked.

Ladybug gasped breathily but quickly pulled herself together to reply. "Okay," she said calmly but eagerly.

Heart lit with joy, Adrien reached up and caressed her cheek as he leaned in.

His eyes fluttered shut, and so did Ladybug's, as their lips met. Gentle as first but then Adrien tilted his head and kissed her a bit deeper. And she returned how deep she kissed him.

It was surprisingly easier without their noses bumping the others. Instead, his nose was pressed along side her chin, and he could feel her nose on his chin. It was odd and different. But it worked. It felt right.

Adrien smiled against her lips.

He hoped every kiss he had from that day on was with him or the other person—Ladybug—hanging upside down.

The first time I looked over the prompt list for this month and spotted this prompt/day, I was determined to make this one of the 7 I'd be picking and writing.

I loved the upside down kiss from Spider Man 2002 and have wanted to write one for these guys (not exactly for this ship specifically but it certainly works good for them)

Next chapter will be the 20th ;D