If there's one thing no one wants, it's fanfiction written about them.
When Alya showed Marinette the Paon x Marinette fic (thankfully censoring out certain parts), Marinette could not believe her eyes. In less than a week, she'd gone from a minor celebrity (she was still riding off that Jagged Stone fame) to a front page magazine spread. Well, not her technically - but her face! And it was Marinette that was being followed, and questioned at school, and having to delete all her social media. Inette had probably dyed her hair and jet setted off to somewhere in rural Canada until the attention died down. Smart girl.
Paon had visited her balcony every night since that day, which wasn't exactly low profile. Adrien had tried to approach her every lunch after she ghosted his text. At this point, Marinette was considering dropping out of school, but her academic gratification tendencies wouldn't allow for that.
She's not sure what was the breaking point that made her finally unlock her roof tonight. Perhaps recent reflection that her avoidance strategies are what ruined her friendship with Adrien in the first place. Or maybe she just needed someone to talk about this all with that wasn't Alya just totally fangirling over her imaginary relationship.
"I'm not fake dating you, for the record."
Paon turned around from romantically staring out at the Paris city nights. "What? You're here! Also, what?"
"I'm just saying I've read enough romance novels. And fanfics about us. I'm not doing a fake dating thing just because you forced Inette to kiss you."
"I would not have forced something like that. I wouldn't force anything. I'm really sorry for getting you into this mess." Paon seemed genuinely apologetic. Right - because she was Marinette right now, who Paon didn't absolutely loathe.
They stared at each other.
"Also, I'm sorry that I didn't plan anything else to say other than that I'm sorry. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting you to show up."
"I wasn't really expecting it either. I guess there's just only so many people who can understand accidentally gaining notoriety because your clone kissed someone famous."
"You think I'm famous? Even more than that guy over on all the billboards?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Are you asking if you're more famous than Adrien Agreste?"
"Am I?" He asked sheepishly. Unfortunately, he asked the only other person in Paris who understood that joke (well, technically one in two, but Marinette didn't know that). Marinette snorted, then remembered that she couldn't know.
"Nah, I think Ladybug would give over the miraculous to Adrien Agreste in an instant."
Another shared laugh. Another shared moment.
"Listen, all I wanted to do was come over and say that I'm going to shut these rumors down right away. I can say it's a long lost twin sister, or just a really good AI video manipulation, or whatever better idea I'm sure you've come up with." Paon rocked back and forth, grasping at his teal hair sheepishly.
Marinette always had an idea. She had been replaying the video, not only in her mind but literally on screen, since it happened. She already had to do the awkward conversation with her parents that it was only a kiss, so the long lost twin sister was certainly out.
And, must she admit, during her idea planning she had tried to imagine what kissing him would have felt like? For story purposes only - she obviously would have been asked to describe it, and would need to know what to say - but it was difficult to watch yourself all over someone else and not hold any feelings about it.
She thought back to the infamous night on the roof. The one that went horribly wrong. But before then… she would be lying if she said the plan to steal his miraculous only developed midway to kissing him.
And then, at that moment, she developed another plan. A plan to really understand Adrien - Paon - and to convince him to do what's right. Her moral justice Ladybug approach definitely did not work. But maybe, for once in her life, Marinette had a power Ladybug did not.
"No, actually, it's okay. I don't mind it. Chloe has actually stopped bothering me at school - I suppose having the threat of a superhero show up and kick your ass is the best anti-bullying countermeasure. If you want, we can keep hanging out for a few weeks, so you don't get some player reputation, and then have some classic breakup over me not being able to handle your secret identity."
"You don't want to know my secret identity?"
"No!" Marinette exclaimed, far too loudly for one in the morning. "No, that would put me in danger. I don't like, well, it's not like we're really in love with each other anyways."
Paon stared at her, his eyes obviously disagreeing but his voice resigned to any option that involved spending more time with Marinette. "Right."