Archive of Our Own

Day 0 (The Break-Up)

He’d never thought Marinette would ever hurt him.

“Tell me,” Adrien said.

“No.”

“Come on, just tell me,” he repeated, keeping his voice purposefully light. “What was making you look like that?”

“Just drop it,” Marinette hissed, still not looking at him. “Okay?”

His stomach did a strange flip inside his gut. “You know I’m not comfortable when people keep secrets from me,” he replied. “It brings back a memory I’d rather not think about.”

She slammed her textbook shut and whirled around to face him. “Are you seriously comparing me to Hawkmoth?”

“I didn’t say that,” he started.

“You seriously think I’m the one hiding things in this relationship?” she accused.

Adrien frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Marinette said sarcastically. “Maybe it’s the fact that you’ve never shown one goddamn emotion in our entire two year relationship?”

“That’s not fair,” he replied. “You know what happened-”

“I didn’t expect you to be loud and gregarious, Adrien, I just need you to be something! ”

“I was never like that!”

“I feel like I don’t even know you!” Marinette exploded. “You’re always hiding what you really think and feel! You don’t trust me!”

Something inside him snapped. “How can I?” he shouted. “You’re in love with somebody else!”

Marinette reared back as though she’d been slapped, the echo of his accusation still ringing around the apartment. “What,” she stated, deathly quiet.

Adrien narrowed his eyes, all the anger and paranoia he’d ever felt rushing out of his mouth in a tide of bitterness. “I didn’t even know you had an ex to be hung up on,” Adrien said.

“I don’t,” she said.

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed. “Who the hell gave you those earrings, then, Marinette? You touch them and sigh for like five times a day-”

“He didn’t give,” Marinette started, and then caught herself too late. “I mean, I bought them myself.”

Adrien stared at her. “What’s his name?” he asked softly. “What’s his story, that you’ve never even mentioned him?”

“Why do you care?” Marinette spat. “You don’t love me.”

His heart sputtered out an uneven beat and he paused. “I guess not,” he answered eventually. “You don’t love me, either.”

Marinette’s gaze burned on his skin. “I think you should leave,” she said, still quiet.

His eyes were burning, too, in their sockets. “Yeah,” he rasped. “I probably should. Bye, Marinette.”

“Goodbye, Adrien,” she shot back.

Day -505

Marinette didn’t know what to do with so much time on her hands. She only could sew so many design ideas at once, and the bakery was only open so many hours. Her parents were getting concerned about her habit of talking to herself (which didn’t used to be so crazy before when she wasn’t actually talking to herself, but now Tikki was gone and she was a crazy person).

So when Alya gave her a mission -

This would be the perfect time to ask Adrien out, girl. He needs a distraction from that big empty mansion of his and you need a date.

I’m not going to try and date him now, Alya, she’d replied. He’s going through enough as it is, with his father and all. He just needs a friend.

-she’d jumped on it.

“Get in, loser!” she called, beeping the horn of her parents’ car as Adrien stumbled down his front steps. “We’re going to Disneyland!”

He snorted as he folded himself into her passenger’s seat. “Disneyland?” he said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. “Isn’t that for little kids?”

She gave a theatrical gasp as she started to drive away. “Little kids?” she repeated with horror. “Adrien, have you ever even been to Disneyland?”

“Not the way you’re thinking,” he said.

Marinette turned to him and clapped both hands to her cheeks.

“Jesus, Mari, eyes on the road!” he shouted, leaning over and taking the steering wheel with one hand.

“You’ve never been to Disneyland?!” she said. “Why not?! It’s right here! In Paris! In our own backyards!”

“Hands on the wheel,” Adrien hissed, relaxing finally when she retook standard driving position. “I mean, I’ve been to Disneyland. Chloe had a birthday party in the castle twice when we were kids. And I’ve done a couple modeling gigs there. My father has partnerships with the-”

He cut himself off suddenly, and Marinette was reminded of the thought that she had just thrown his father in jail.

On the bright side, Alya had said, tactless as ever, at least he’s 18.

“But you’ve never done any rides?” Marinette continued, steadily ignoring Gabriel Agreste’s existence. “You’ve never met any characters? Have you even seen any Disney movies?”

“Of course I’ve seen the movies,” he said.

“This isn’t just an outing anymore,” Marinette continued. “This is an intervention.”

Adrien snorted again, smiling down at his hands in his lap.

They got their money’s worth out of their tickets that day, walking around until well past sunset when their feet began to get sore. They rode all the height-appropriate rides and filled up the first quarter of the autograph book Marinette had insisted on buying.

“You need to save that for if you ever go back,” Marinette told him on the ride home. “I know Sleeping Beauty asked for your autograph, but other than that you did perfect. This is an important step in learning to act like a real boy.”

“Thanks,” he drawled. “This’ll be my crowning achievement.”

Marinette glanced at him out the corner of her eyes. Adrien had been letting slip things that may have been puns all day - he probably didn’t realize he was doing it, she wouldn’t have realized if she hadn’t spent the last several years being carefully trained in the art of pun making by her best friend she would probably never see again, because she had chickened out -

“But really,” Adrien continued. “Thank you, Marinette. I’ve had the best day I’ve had in a really long time today.”

“No problem,” Marinette said. “You’re not such bad company, yourself.”

He smiled again. “I’ve gotten autographs from celebrities before, you know.”

“Sure,” she said skeptically. “Your model coworkers don’t count.”

“I have yours,” he said. “You signed my Jagged Stone album, remember?”

Her heart missed a beat. She’d by-and-large grown a little too old and way too busy to keep up her obsessive crush on Adrien since she was 14, but it all came rushing back in an instant. “Y-you remember that?”

“Of course,” he said. “I remember everything about you, Marinette. You’re one of my best friends.”

She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. “O-oh. I - thank you, Adrien, I - you’re one of my best friends too.”

He continued to smile softly at her as she pulled into his driveway. “This was a lot of fun,” he said. “Look, school’s almost out, and I - I’d love to hang out with you more.”

“Sure,” Marinette answered. “Just text the groupchat, and we’ll...”

Adrien blushed. “Actually,” he said, voice rising in pitch, “I was thinking maybe more along the lines of just you and me? If you want to?”

She stared at him. His skin was pink from the sun all day as well as his embarrassment, and his eyes were clear and honest and he was wringing his fingers adorably and - “Yes!” she blurted out. “Yes, oh my god, yes, you have no idea how much I - yes.”

His smile just about cracked his face in half. “Great!” he said, bouncing in his seat. “I’ll call you tomorrow!”

Her grin probably matched. “You do that,” she agreed.

“Goodnight, Marinette,” he said, and quickly leaned over to peck a kiss on her cheek before just about jumping out of the car.

She stared after him as he walked up the stairs to his house, blushing when he turned around to wave before closing the front door behind him. “Oh my god, Tikki,” she whispered to her no-longer-present kwami. “He likes me, Tikki. He really likes me!”

She drove the rest of the way home in pure bliss, practically bouncing up the stairs to her room, much to her parent’s amusement. “Best day ever.”

Day 85

“Come on, buddy,” Nino pleaded. “It’s been three months, and you guys still can’t be in the same room together. Something has to change.”

“I’m fine,” Adrien said. “You can invite Marinette wherever you want. I’m cool.”

“You are clearly the opposite of cool,” Nino said. “Look, you never have to be best friends again, but it’s just awkward-”

“She’s the one making it awkward,” he interrupted.

“You both get snippy,” Nino said, truthfully. “Really, really snippy. It’s not fun being caught in the middle.”

Adrien deflated. “I’m sorry, Nino,” he said. “I really am. I’ll try to be better.”

“Thanks,” Nino said. “That’s all I ask.”

Day 421

Marinette didn’t notice the little black box on her coffee table until after she’d gotten home, changed into pajamas, and plopped down on the couch with her reheated dinner.

When she did, she screamed.

Day -350

“I would like to propose a toast,” Adrien said, one arm raising his glass of wine and the other draped over the back of Marinette’s chair. “To good food, great friends, and the best girlfriend in the world, who is going to have the best first day at university tomorrow.”

“To Marinette!” Alya finished.

“Marinette!” he and Nino echoed, clinking the glasses in the middle of the table.

Next to him, Marinette laughed and added her glass to the toast in the middle. “And to you guys, who already started classes last week,” she said. “And to us, the big bunch of homebodies who couldn’t bear to leave Paris.”

“Cheers,” Alya said, tapping her glass against the rest of theirs. “Why would anyone want to leave Paris? The most exciting things happen here.”

Adrien withdrew his glass and with the rest of them knocked back the last few gulps of his wine. Despite everything that had happened in Paris - his father being Hawkmoth, the company being sold, his miraculous - he couldn’t imagine ever leaving.

He had made that promise to Ladybug, after all.

“I’m a little nervous,” Marinette said next to him, jerking him out of his memories. “I feel like everything’s been happening so fast recently. We graduated and now we’re in different universities and - everything’s changed.”

“Sorry,” Adrien said cheekily, leaning over and kissing the side of Marinette’s forehead.

She shot him a glare. “I didn’t say it was a bad change. Don’t you dare be sorry.”

He smiled back lazily. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Oh, gross,” Nino said. “What did we say about flirting at the dinner table?”

“Nino,” Alya said, whacking his arm. “They just got together.”

“It’s been six months,” Adrien corrected. “I’m sorry, I’ll try to contain my girlfriend’s cuteness from here on out.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Stop trying to distract me from my school nerves.”

“Things aren’t changing completely,” Alya said. “You still have us, right? We’re going to do this forever. We’re a power couple of power couples.”

Adrien squeezed Marinette’s far shoulder. They exchanged a happy glance. “For sure,” Adrien answered. “I can’t imagine ever not doing this.”

Day 422

Being Ladybug again was like breathing a fresh of breath for the first time in five years.

“Tikki!” Marinette had squealed yesterday, her jaw aching with the force of her smile. “You’re back! I missed you so much!”

Tikki had beamed back quietly. “Hi, Marinette,” she chirped.

She’d gone out swinging last night, under the cover of darkness, when no one had seen her.

And then she’d gone out today, in full daylight, where lots of people could see her. They pointed and waved and cheered when she’d waved back. Some asked questions which she pointedly ignored.

“You’re back, Ladybug! Why have you been gone so long?”

“Is there a new villian, Ladybug?”

“Ladybug, where is Chat Noir?”

She’d swung past each person too quickly to answer, swallowing down the bigger and bigger lump in her throat.

She didn’t know if the one person she’d wanted to see had seen her, but he didn’t show up.

Day -200

Marinette was probably the best girlfriend that any guy could ask for. She was smart, and kind, and attentive, and clever, and Adrien really shouldn’t have anything to complain about.

It was a petty thing to complain about.

“Just spit it out, already,” Nino said, not looking up from his phone.

“Marinette hates puns!” Adrien burst out. “Oh my god, she hates them. And not like in the oh-no-that-was-a-cheesy-joke sort of way that everyone does. Whenever I make even a tiny joke she stops smiling completely and gets all distant and stuff.”

Nino looked up, eyes narrowed. “Puns?” he said skeptically.

It was times like these that made Adrien miss Plagg like he was missing a limb. “Yeah,” he said. “Puns. I love puns.”

“You do?” Nino asked.

“Puns are the cleverest kind of joke,” he answered seriously. “I love puns. Come on, even you have to admit they’re captivating.”

Nino blinked.

“ Cap tivating,” Adrien repeated, gesturing towards Nino’s hat. “No, not you too.”

“You’ve been calling my music captivating for years now,” Nino said. “Where you making a joke the entire time?”

“Were you missing the joke the entire time?” Adrien answered.

“I’m with Marinette on this one,” Nino said. “You gotta work on your delivery, man.”

“No, that’s just it,” Adrien said. “The more obvious I am with it, the more she hates it. Yesterday we went out to breakfast and I made a butter-fly joke and she almost burst into tears. She spent, like, 5 minutes in the bathroom.”

“I think you’re overthinking this,” Nino said. “Let your girlfriend go to the bathroom in the morning in peace.”

Adrien sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”

“I’m right,” Nino insisted. “I’ve been dating Alya for like a third of my life, man. Let the expert speak.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Adrien agreed, pushed the thought from his mind.

Day -517

“Master Fu!” Marinette said, knocking on the door of the darkened massage parlor rapidly. “It’s me, Marinette. Open up, please. Open up!”

There was no answer.

“Master Fu, please!” she pleaded with the locked door. “It’s an emergency!”

The door did not answer.

With a cry of frustration she pushed herself off and ran around the block, taking the narrow alley that would let her access the back of the massage parlor. The back door was locked too, but a window on the second floor was open, and hey, she wasn’t Ladybug for 4 years for nothing.

It turns out climbing up gutter pipes, which were much less stable without Ladybug’s trademark luck, was much more difficult without her super strength, and super balance, and maybe she ripped her jacket on the window frame coming in and scraped her palms, but whatever. The luck and strength and balance were the least important parts of Ladybug.

She dropped down onto the floor of the second story loudly, pressing her scraped palm into her pants. “The most important part was Chat Noir,” she thought out loud. “Master Fu! Master, are you here! Is anyone here?!”

There were only dark, silent corners to answer her.

“Please!” she said. “I need to find Chat Noir! I know he said he didn’t want to know, and I agreed, but it was stupid, okay? It was stupid and I need to know who he is! I need to find him! Please!”

There was nothing.

“Tikki!” Marinette shouted. “Anyone! You can’t just all leave me like this! I was never supposed to be alone, I was supposed to have Chat Noir, I was supposed to have Chat Noir! What if I never see him again?! It was a stupid goodbye, and I want to take it back! I take it back! I want him back!”

She cut herself off roughly, surprised by the ferocity of her voice. She’d come here because she realized she and Chat Noir had made a mistake, but the mistake was supposed to be fixable. Master Fu hadn’t told them he was leaving.

Something slid down her cheek. Marinette looked up at the dry ceiling stupidly before she realized she was crying. She hadn’t cried when Hawkmoth had captured her, or when Tikki told her the earrings had to be returned. She hadn’t cried when Chat Noir said goodbye, or when Tikki flew off forever.

She wet her lips and whispered, “Miraculous Ladybug.”

For the first time ever, it didn’t work.

Day -20

Marinette wore earrings.

When Adrien and Marinette had first started dating, she’d been going through something of an earring craze. She’d tried all sorts of different earrings, a different pair every day. Hoops, small studs, silly decorative ones that looked like all sorts of different shapes. She’d lost interest in - oh, maybe a month or two, he didn’t remember.

She’d settled on a pair of shiny silver circular earrings back then, and now that he thought about it he couldn’t remember ever seeing her change them after than. He only noticed now because, in the light, her earrings gleamed the same shade as his ring had once done.

He rubbed the fourth finger of his right hand. The tan line had finally faded. It had taken weeks for him to get used to the lack of weight.

Once he’d noticed the earrings, though, he couldn’t stop noticing them, because whenever Marinette had one of her moods (she would sigh and stare out the window like a proper French stereotype) she would reach up and rub them.

And it was driving him crazy.

“Hey, Marinette,” he said, leaning against the wall beside her and startling her out of her mope. “Do you want to do something tomorrow?” Tomorrow was Friday the 13th, which had always been something of an inside joke between him and Ladybug. He’d love to take his mind off it.

Marinette pursed her lips. “I’m actually busy tomorrow,” she said.

He stared at her. “What are you doing?”

“Homework,” she replied. “Design project.”

“On a Friday?” he asked. “Come on, you can take a night off.”

“I’d rather not,” she snapped.

Adrien reared back, quickly schooling his features at Marinette’s sharp tone. “Oh,” he said. “Okay, then. I’ll see you next week?”

Marinette turned back to the window, biting her lip and rubbing her earring . “Yeah,” she said. “Next week. See you, Adrien.”

Day 138

Marinette had thought she could read Adrien.

Back in the days when she was 14 and had time to spare, she thought she could have written a comprehensive book on Adrien Agreste. And then that had faded into friendship, and she spared him only a little more thought than anyone else, and then they were dating, and his happiness was as clear on his face as the sun was in the sky, and then-

And then Marinette slowly realized that nothing but sunshine was a desert.

“You look anxious,” she said to Adrien, who jumped when she spoke up. “As anxious as you ever look, anyway.”

He narrowed his eyes, just slightly. “Hello to you to, Marinette,” he said, straightening his shirt. “I almost spilled my punch. You scared me.”

“Sorry,” she answered. “But I knew you wouldn’t. You’re too graceful for that.”

“Thanks,” Adrien answered dryly, taking a sip of his drink. When she didn’t go away, he swallowed and continued, “What are you doing here? I didn’t know you knew Melodie.”

“We’re in school together,” Marinette said. “Why are you at her birthday party?”

“We used to model together,” he answered coolly. “I was invited.”

She frowned. “I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t.”

“Alright then,” Adrien said. His eyes flicked her up and down. “You look well.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said. “You look the same as ever.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that,” he said. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything,” she said. “You look how you look.”

“If it doesn’t mean anything, why are you saying it?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette apologized. “I was just making conversation.”

“Maybe it’s a little too soon to be making conversation,” Adrien said. “We just broke up.”

She bristled. “It’s been four months.”

“Four and a half months,” he corrected.

“I didn’t realize you cared enough to keep track,” she said.

Adrien frowned, just slightly. “Of course I care, Marinette,” he said, emphasizing the T’s of her name just ever-more slightly.

“Really?” she snapped. “Well, you don’t look like it. You look the same as you’ve always looked.”

Adrien rounded on her. “I look how I look,” he said, staring at her intensely. It wasn’t quite a snap. She hated it. She hated how he hid behind his voice and his posture and all-too-often his silence. She hated that she couldn’t read his anger, or his sadness, that he didn’t trust her enough to show her those things.

She hated how she couldn’t read anything but sunshine.

“It was nice running into you, Adrien,” she lied.  

Day 422-423

Adrien was walking home from his morning class when he saw her. Her. Ladybug. His heart skipped a beat and his mouth went abruptly dry; she was just as strong and beautiful as ever.

“Ladybug,” he called out hoarsely, but she didn’t hear him; just kept swinging away on her yo-yo.

He tore home quickly after that, throwing his book bag down and searching frantically for the ring all throughout his apartment, and then all his things, and in a fit of panic ran over to his childhood home (that had been sold five years ago) and stared through the gate forlornly, convincing himself that there was no way that a little black box was waiting for him in his old bedroom.

He checked his phone compulsively for news of an akuma attack or something, but the only headline related to Ladybug seemed to be Ladybug’s appearance herself. He trudged home once more, skipping the rest of his classes for the day to go on a long run, and then ate a whole pint of ice-cream, and fell asleep fitfulling after hours of tossing and turning.

“Hey, kid, I think you grew.”

Adrien jerked awake to a familiar set of glowing green eyes two inches from his own.

“Demon attack at the Eiffel Tower,” Plagg said shortly, dropping the ring on Adrien’s nose. “It needs a gate to support its existence on this plane, so once you destroy the pentagram you should be back in business. Don’t mess up.”

“Plagg,” Adrien breathed.

“Don’t get mushy on me now, kid,” Plagg said. “Ladybug’s been there for at least 20 minutes already.”

Adrien jerked upright, slipping the ring on his finger like it had never left. “Claws out!” he ordered, relishing the way the magic slipped up his skin. He was out the window and onto the neighboring rooftop in a single bound, and he whooped all the way to the Eiffel Tower.

‘Demon’ might not have been exactly the right word for the smoky monster curling up the Eiffel Tower. Adrien paused on the roof of the Trocodero, wondering what the pentagram Plagg referred to could constantly mean; he couldn’t even see Ladybug through the smoke and the army of skeletons rising up from a cave beneath the tower -

Well, he could take care of that, at least.

“Cataclysm!” Adrien shouted as he landed, slamming his claws down on the roof of the cave directly underneath the Eiffel Tower. The cave collapsed in on itself, pieces of skeletons flying everywhere. He coughed against the explosion of dirt reflexively (his enhanced lungs actually weren’t that bothered by the particulates) as he used his staff to take out the existing skeletons, knocking down line after line until he revealed-

Ladybug’s face lit up when she saw him; she used her yo-yo to hook him around the waist and pull him back over to where she was standing by the ticket booths. “Chat Noir!” she beamed, and then pointed up at the sky, to the tip of the Tower. “Can I have a boost?”

“Anything for you, my lady,” he said, hooking an arm around her waist and shooting them up into the sky with his staff in the other. As they reached the top Ladybug leaped off him even further up, grabbing the pointed tail of a black cloud and ripping it away from a small red - oh, so that’s what Plagg meant by pentagram. It dissolved easily enough under Ladybug’s touch.

He jumped too, to the top of the Eiffel tower to catch Ladybug as she fell back down. She smiled as she landed in his arms, hooking one around his neck so he could drop them back to the ground safely. “Chat Noir express,” he commented as they landed, letting Ladybug go. “Hope you enjoyed the ride.”

“It’s the only fashionable way to travel around Paris,” Ladybug agreed, throwing her yoyo in the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

It was like they had never stopped, Adrien thought, smiling as the debris cleared. People started cheering as Ladybug turned back to him. “Pound-,” Chat Noir started, raising a fist-

But then Ladybug was yanking him down by the back of his head and kissing him, kissing him like her life depended on it. His hands automatically fell to her waist like they were made to be there, and he kissed her harder, and then he picked her up and twirled her around just because he could, because he was strong and it was easy and her hands were buried in his hair and her lips were soft and sure and her tongue warm and-

His ring beeped and they broke apart just a few inches, Adrien still resting his forehead against hers. He was dimly aware of even louder cheering in the background. “Hi,” he said giddily, glancing down at his ring from his grip on her waist. Three minutes left.

“Hi,” Ladybug breathed back, and her eyes were bright and her eyelashes were long and he was going to melt into a black puddle of happiness right here at her feet. “I missed you.”

His grip tightened around her waist. “I missed you too,” he said, and then licked his lips. Her eyes tracked the movement. “I just got the miraculous back this morning, I was so scared when yesterday-”

“Better late than never,” Ladybug interrupted.

His ring beeped again, he straightened up properly. “I have to go,” he said reluctantly, dropping his hands from her body and stepping back.

“No,” Ladybug said, darted forward and grabbing his wrist. “I don’t want to risk it, I’m not letting you go again.”

He smiled softly despite himself. “Ladybug,” he said. “Now’s not the place or time. It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere soon.”

Her logical side was clearly warring with her stubbornness. “Tonight,” she finally ordered. “If you don’t show up, I’m going to start attacking the city myself.”

He snorted, sliding her hand until it was against his and bringing her knuckles to his lips with a showy kiss. It was Nino’s birthday party tonight, but he could probably slip away. After all, it was for his first love - the girl who might turn out to be the love of his life after all. “10 PM alright for you, my lady?” he asked. “Above the street where we first met?”

“Very romantic of you, kitty,” she said. “I accept.”

He straightened as his ring beeped once more. “I’ll be counting down the minutes,” he said, before taking off.

He was going to find out who his lady was. Tonight.

Day -524

Once they had delivered Hawkmoth (Gabriel Agreste, wow she had not seen that coming) to the police, she and Chat Noir had kept largely out of it. It’s not like that had anything else to do - Marinette had so much energy, even three days after the final battle, but there was nothing else for the miraculous to take care of.

That’s why Tikki said she had to take the earrings away.

“They’re too dangerous to leave in mortal hands for no reason,” Tikki said apologetically. “The miraculous are meant to be hidden away until humanity truly needs them. I’m sorry, Marinette.”

“That’s okay, Tikki,” Marinette said softly to the kwami in her hands. “I mean, I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you so much. But I saw what happened with Hawkmoth, how it can even turn - I mean - it’s okay, Tikki. I understand. When do you have to go?”

Tikki stared up at her with watery eyes.

Marinette blinked. “Can you wait until tomorrow?” she said. “I want to see Chat Noir tonight. If there’s no miraculous, I - there’s nothing holding us back. We’ve been keeping this secret for so long, but if tonight’s the last night then - tonight is the night, Tikki.”

“I can wait until midnight,” Tikki said. “Midnight is a good time for ending things.”

“Alright,” Marinette said. “Can you pass a message to Chat Noir for us to meet tonight? Wherever he finds me?”

“I can do that,” Tikki said.

Marinette told her parents she was sleeping over at Alya’s and transformed immediately after dinner, bursting with a completely new kind of nervous energy. She swung all over the city, enjoying her last night as Ladybug; after tonight, she’d never have the power to fly again.

After tonight, she’d know finally meet her partner. She’d known Chat Noir for four years now; she trusted him like she trusted her heart to beat inside her chest, and speaking of her heart it was giving a twist inside her that she couldn’t completely pin down on the upcoming loss of her kwami.

Chat Noir didn’t show up until late at night, tracking her down on a rooftop somewhere in the Latin quarter, and her poor twisted heart almost shattered when she saw him. “Oh, Chat,” she whispered, taking a step towards him and brushing his hair from his forehead. He leaned into her touch. “You look terrible.”

He gave a weak chuckle, but his voice sounded grated. “Thanks, LB.”

“Your eyes are red,” she said, continuing to run her hand through his hair.

“My eyes are green,” he corrected. “My eyes are magically green.”

“It’s okay,” she said.

Chat Noir blinked and a tear leaked out and dripped off the tip of his nose, which looked like it had been rubbed raw. “You are so good to me,” he whispered.

“Oh, Chat,” she said, leaning forward and throwing her arms around his shoulders. He leaned into the hug and pressed his face into her hair, breathing shakily; she could feel the tears leaking down. “It’s okay,” she repeated, rubbing his back. “I mean, it’ll suck, having to give the miraculous away, but it’s okay. It’s going to be okay. We’re going to be fine.”

He sobbed once and squeezed her tightly, tightly enough that even her reinforced bones felt the pressure. “This was perfect,” he said finally, pulling back with his voice only moderately back under control. “Ladybug, even when everything else in my life was falling apart, this was perfect. Being Chat Noir was perfect.”

“You were perfect,” she agreed.

He snorted. “You were perfect,” he said. “I helped sometimes.”

“Hey,” she said gently, bumping his cheek with her fist. “That’s my favorite partner you’re talking about. Be nice to him. He’s my best friend.”

Chat Noir caught her hand and held it there against his cheek with his own. “You’re my best friend too,” he said, voice wobbling. “I’m so sorry, Ladybug.”

“Why are you sorry?” she asked. “You haven’t done anything.”

He was staring at her with his magically green eyes. “I’m sorry I’m going to leave you,” he said.

“Leave me?” she said. “You don’t have to leave me! I know the kwami are going, but we don’t have to hang out as Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore, we can be regular…”

He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t  - I don’t want to,” he stammered.

She froze.

“I’m so sorry, I just - being Chat Noir was perfect, you were perfect, but I need this period in my life to be over.” He brought her hand down from his cheek and clasped it between his own. “I’ll never forget you, Ladybug, but I need - I need a clean break. I need to just be me. Is that okay?”

She stared down at her bright red hand in between his two black gloves. “If that’s what you need, then of course it’s okay,” she said quietly.

He pulled her into a hug again. “Thank you, Ladybug,” he said. “Thank you, thank you so much.” He pushed back and stared at her. “I love you, you know.”

She swallowed, still feeling numb. “I love you too,” she answered. “I always will, you know.”

“I know,” he said quietly.

“Chat Noir?” she asked quietly, hesitantly. “Can I ask…” she shook her head. “Just don’t leave Paris, okay?”

He stared at her intensely, his bloodshot eyes serious in a way she’d never seen before, until he ducked down suddenly to press a quick kiss against her cheek. “I won’t,” he murmured. “For you, Ladybug.” Then he jumped away into the darkness, where the night swallowed him up all too quickly.

She swung home directly after that herself, still numb, and cuddled with Tikki for the next few hours until midnight struck. With a soft sigh, she took off her earrings and placed them back in the unused black box that had sat hidden in the back of her desk for years.

It didn’t occur to her that she should have told Chat it wasn’t okay until it was too late.

Day -472

“Seven!” Marinette counted. “That’s seven macarons you can fit in your mouth at once!”

Adrien smiled spit out a ball of half-chewed cookies into his palm so he could chew the rest and swallow it. “Dare complete?” he mumbled through a mouthful of cookie.

Marinette laughed. “Yes, dare complete, you freak of of nature.”

“ Your freak of nature,” he said, eating the other half of his cookies. “Mmm, these are good.”

“You’re only dating me for my after-hours bakery access, aren’t you?” she teased.

“Gasp!” he said theatrically, throwing one arm over his forehead. “You’ve found out my plan!”

“It’s okay, dear,” she said. “I’m dating you for your money.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you, now?” he asked. “My money? Just my money, Mari?”

“You sound skeptical,” she said.

“I would have thought for my looks, at least a little bit,” he said.

She burst into giggles again. “Alright, alright, we’re getting off track,” she said. “It’s your turn.”

“Finally,” Adrien groused. “I’m getting revenge. Truth or dare?”

She eyed him. “Truth,” she said cautiously.

“Truth, okay,” he said. “Have you had any other boyfriends?”

Marinette looked down, blushing. “Ah, no,” she said, staring at her feet. “No boyfriends for me.” She glanced up at him. “You’re the first one.”

He smiled. “Perfect,” he said, stretching the r maybe a bit too much out of habit.

She bit her lip. “What about you?” she said. “You haven’t been hiding a million girlfriends from me these last few years, have you?”

“No,” Adrien said. “No girlfriends. I went a couple of dates, I guess,” he quashed down the flash of memory of Ladybug back into the recesses of his memory, “But not a real girlfriend.”

Marinette smiled back. “Perfect,” she echoed, leaning in.

He ducked down and kissed her - he loved that he could do that, anytime now. Their kiss broke into smiles. “I’m not just dating you for after-hours bakery access,” he told her softly.

She smiled back. “I know,” she said.

Day 423

Marinette was walking on cloud nine through Nino’s whole birthday party. In the general excitement that Ladybug and Chat Noir had caused, no one seemed to notice.

“It was pure luck I was there,” Alya gushed to anyone who would listen. “I got the video. Ladybug just goes in for the kiss and plants one on him, and then he picks her up and twirls her and - it was one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen. Just look at their faces, they love each other so much. This was worth the wait, people. LadyNoir for life.”

“Our next big reunion, I’m going to twirl you,” Nino said.

Alya leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course, birthday boy. You know, I think maybe this was the universe’s present to you.”

“Whatever makes you happy,” Nino said, smiling.

Marinette snuck out at around 9:30, showing up the the meeting spot ridiculously early. To her surprise, Chat Noir was already there, sitting down on his staff hung between two sides of the road like a balance beam. “Hey!” she greeted, landing solidly on one rooftop. “How do you feel about solid ground?”

He smiled at her and jumped to meet her, storing his baton behind his back and holding a singular rose out to her with his other hand. “Hey, yourself,” he said softly. “Got you something.”

She blushed and grabbed the rose, smelling it deeply. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured, glancing from it to back at his face. “Chat Noir, can - can I kiss you?”

His cat-eyes darkened considerably. “Yes,” he growled, snatching her forward and kissing her first. Marinette spread her fingers along the padding of his shoulders, drinking him in as much as she could. Chat Noir kissed like he was trying to erase the last five years of his absence, like he could kiss his way permanently into her soul.

She broke away breathlessly. “Whoa,” she said.

“Ladybug,” he growled again, claws tightening on her hips. “You have no idea.”

Reluctantly, she pulled away even more, bracing her nerves. “I want you,” she said. “With or without the miraculous, I want you. I never want to leave you again.”

His eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “My lady, I have the exact same felines on the matter,” he said. “Count of three?”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Yeah, count of three. One, two-”

Her eyes shut instinctively against the flash of light, her own doubling in magnitude with the added intensity of Chat’s green flare. She blinked her eyes open slowly, staring at the boy in front of her.

Oh, god.

He was gawking at her similarly, mouth hanging open without words.

“...Adrien?” Marinette hesitantly, in case it was a mistake.

He shut his mouth, opened in again, shut it once more, and then finally echoed, “Marinette?”

“You’re...you’re…” she stammered.

“This isn’t fair,” Adrien mumbled.

She blinked. “What?”

“This isn’t fair!” he continued, “We’ve already dated.” He blanched suddenly.

Marinette wrung her hands. “Adrien,” she said. “I didn’t - the whole time, how - how could -” she swallowed.

“We dated for two years,” he continued. “We - fuck, we -”

“What,” Marinette snapped, “Love each other?”

Adrien’s eyes were a million times harder to read than Chat’s - it was hard even to make them out in the dark. “We don’t,” he said, pressing one hand to his stomach. “I - I have to go.”

“Adrien,” she said, pleading. “Stop.”

He transformed wordlessly, glancing over his shoulder at the edge of the rooftop. “I’m sorry we ruined it,” he said. “We were perfect.”

“We were never perfect,” Marinette snapped “Why are you running away? Adrien! Chat - get back here!”

He dove off the rooftop. Heart pounding, Marinette transformed and dove after him, chasing him all the way back to where she’d come from - where he must have come from too, to think about it, and how could she have missed the fact that he was Chat Noir? Adrien caught the lip of Nino’s balcony and detransformed before flipping himself up and in view of the window; Marinette hooked her yoyo on the roof and halted her momentum, detransforming before falling straight down next to him.

“Adrien,” she hissed furiously, grabbing him by the sleeve. “This isn’t over.”

“It was over two years ago,” he muttered, wrenching his arm out of her grasp and straightening up. “If you remember-”

“There you guys are!” Alya said, sticking her head out the balcony doorway. “Were you out here the whole time? We were wondering where you got off t-”

Adrien shouldered past her and stormed back into the apartment.

“Whoa,” Alya said, staring after Adrien’s back. “He looks mad. Really mad. Were you two fighting?”  

“I don’t even know,” Marinette sighed. She looked down and squeezed her hands together. “We’ve been talking, recently - well, just today, I guess, and I thought we might be getting back together, but...he hates me, or something. I don’t know, I...” she swallowed. “He wouldn’t even consider it.”

“Oh, girl,” Alya said, walking over and throwing a hand over Marinette’s shoulders. “You deserve better than him, honestly. You deserve someone who makes you happy and puts an effort into communication.”

“Adrien was it for me for so long,” Marinette confessed. “It was Adrien and then it was... Adrien again. Why won’t he just talk to me, Alya?”

“He has his issues,” Alya said. “It’s not your job to fix them, Mari. Come on, let’s get you a drink.”

“Two drinks,” Marinette said. “If there was ever a night for drinks, this is it.”

Day 424

It was somewhere past one in the morning, Adrien thought. Or two in the morning. Whatever. He’d been managing to avoid Marinette all night by jumping to various drinking games, but even the 78-cup game of beer pong hadn’t lasted long enough, and now he was pretty drunk.

Pretty drunk, ‘cause he was a model. Ha.

“Marinette’s still here,” he mumbled belatedly, because he had Plagg back, and he could get in the habit of talking through all his problems out loud again.

Unfortunately, it was Nino and not his kwami who responded. “That’s why you’re hanging around?” he asked. “Are you trying to outlast Marinette?”

“If I go home she’ll find me,” he said.

“She’s not a stalker,” Nino said. “Dude, I think you’re being paranoid.”

Adrien gulped. “You’re birthday boy,” he said. “You’re birthday boy, so you’re right, ‘cause it’s your birthday. I don’t want to risk it, though.”

Nino rolled his eyes. “Damn straight I am. Look, she’s actually about as drunk as you are, and we were going to let her sleep over here-”

“Marinette’s sleeping here?” Adrien interrupted, considering suddenly. If Marinette was staying here, she wouldn’t be following him home. If she wasn’t following him home, he could be safe to freak out there. Nodding decisively, he announced loudly, “THEN I AM GOING HOME!”

“Inside voice,” Nino said.

“Then I am going home,” Adrien whispered.

“Are you sure you can make it back okay?” Nino asked. “You probably shouldn’t be out by yourself.”

“Pfft,” Adrien said. “Paris. I’m tough, Nino. I’m super tough.” He giggled.

“Right,” Nino said dryly.

“I’m,” Adrien made scratching motions with his hands. “I’m as tough as Chat Noir hizself. Himself.”

“Of course you are,” Nino said.

“You’re not a thing like Chat Noir,” a voice declared loudly, and Adrien spun around and had to brace himself on the wall against the spinning before he located the voice’s owner.

“Marinette,” he said. “Fuck you. I’m just like Chat Noir.”

“Whoa!” Nino said loudly. “Okay! Well, I think the party is over. Adrien, Marinette, we’ll get you two a pair of separate cabs-”

“No,” Marinette interrupted. “I want to hear this. Adrien, why do you think you deserve to even be compared to Chat Noir? Chat Noir is perfect, ” she sneered.

“Right,” Adrien said. “Perfect. So why would you ever want me, when you could have Chat Noir?”

“I can’t have Chat Noir!” Marinette said. “That’s the problem.”

“This has taken a very weird turn,” Nino said, looking around the room. “I’m going to let you guys have the room, feel free to tire yourselves out.”

Adrien barely waited for the door to close behind Nino before he hissed, “you lied to me.”

Marinette recoiled. “I lied to you?” she repeated. “We did the same thing to each other!”

“Yeah, but you were my girlfriend!” he shouted. “We saw each other every day for two years and I couldn’t even tell!”

“You’re a big hypocrite!” she shouted. “I didn’t do anything you didn’t do!”

“You locked my father away!” he yelled.

Marinette pulled back, eyes wide. “You weren’t mad a Ladybug for locking your father away,” she said quietly.

Adrien rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes. “I’m not mad,” he said hoarsely. “Not about that. But I lived with my father and he lied to me every single day and I can’t do that again, I can’t live with someone who lied to me-”

“Get over it!” she screamed, stepping closer to him, invading his personal space. “God, Adrien, I don’t mean to be insensitive, but it was because of your trust issues with your father that we broke up two years ago and if it’s your trust issues with your father that mean we can’t be together now-”

“My trust issues?” he said. “What happened to you being in love with that other guy?”

“The other guy was you, idiot!” Marinette shouted. Her shout echoed around the room as Adrien stilled. “The other guy was Chat Noir. God, now you know my biggest secret, Ladybug’s in love with Chat Noir, she’s been in love with him since she was at least 18 and I didn’t even realize it until you were gone.”

He took a deep breath. “I didn’t go anywhere,” Adrien said quietly.

“Well, Chat Noir did,” she huffed. “My partner abandoned me then and he’s abandoning me now, and if I broke your heart once, Adrien, you’ve done it to me at least three times over.”

He blinked, and didn’t say anything.

“God, I can’t do this,” Marinette said, voice watering. “You were right, I can’t do this, we can’t -”  she screwed up her eyes and turned away, storming out of the room.

Adrien tracked her with his eyes even as the door slammed shut behind her,  Plagg floating cautiously up out of his shirt pocket. “That was not how I pictured this happening,” his kwami said slowly. “I think you better tell me what happened while I was gone.”

He swallowed. “Yeah,” he rasped.

“Oh, kid,” Plagg said. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

Day -141

“Okay,” Marinette said to her mirror, shaking out and stretching her limbs. “Okay, today’s the day, Marinette. Today’s the day you’re going to tell Adrien you love him.”

She’d never completely shaken off the habit of narrating her problems out loud, but it was better to talk to the mirror, rather than empty space. “It’s your one year anniversary, so the time is right,” Marinette continued. “He is not going to laugh and you. Adrien is a good boyfriend. He might even-”

Her throat closed up, and she couldn’t get out the words he might even love me too.

Adrien picked her up from her apartment wearing black dress slacks and and a green sweater that perfectly matched his eyes. They went out to a beautiful little restaurant for dinner and went to a Moliere play afterwards; every time he laughed Marinette felt her heart beat a little bit faster insider her chest.

She opened her mouth to tell him probably a hundred times that night, but she could never quite get the words out, choking on her hesitation every single time. It’s Adrien, she thought. You love Adrien, you love Adrien, you love -

“Happy anniversary,” Adrien said on their walk home, his hand squeezing her own. “This has been the happiest year of my life, hands down.”

She smiled up at him. “Did you know,” she asked, “that you are the world’s best boyfriend?”

He grinned back. “Well, it’s been really easy. After all, I have the world’s best girlfriend.” He stopped outside her front door, brushing her hair back behind her ear. “It’s getting late,” he said.

This was it, she realized. This was the end of the date with a perfect boy - not just a perfect boy, the perfect boy, she corrected herself as she stepped closer. Adrien smiled and leaned down towards her, aiming for a kiss, and Marinette opened her mouth and -

“I love you, you know,” Chat Noir said quietly, squeezing her one last time before leaving her forever-

She stumbled backwards, catching herself against the wall of the building. “Marinette?” Adrien asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said. “I’m just tired. I probably should be going up to bed.” She stood on her tiptoes and pecked Adrien on the mouth. “Goodnight, Adrien. Happy anniversary.”

“Are you su-” he started, but she was already unlocking the door to her building and letting it slam shut behind her, taking deep, gasping breaths like she had almost drowned.

“I love you too,” Ladybug answered. “I always will, you know.”

She stumbled back up to her apartment. Her hands shook as she unlocked the door; she didn’t bother to turn the light on until she collapsed in front her mirror. “Tikki,” Marinette gasped, pressing her forehead against the glass. “Tikki, why am I like this? ”

Her mirror, as always, didn’t answer.

Day 425

“Adrien,” Plagg asked. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” he answered instantly. “Always, Plagg.”

“Who else do you trust?” Plagg asked. “Besides your friendly neighborhood spirit of destruction as old as time itself.”

Adrien opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

“Kid,” Plagg said. “You might have some trust issues.”

Day 297

Alya took one look at her and said, “Okay, out with it. What’s wrong with Raphael?”

Marinette winced. “There’s nothing...wrong, per say. He has a good taste in music. He’s not mean, he’s not that awkward, and he let me talk about fashion for our entire last date even though he clearly didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.”

Alya stared her down. “But?” she asked knowingly.

Marinette winced and threw her hands in the air. “He’s not it, you know?” she said. “I can picture our entire relationship right now. “We’d date for maybe a year, maximum, because we’re both perfectly nice people, but then it would get boring and we’d break up and I would feel sort of relieved because being with him was fine, and all, but it wasn’t it. There wasn’t any...magic.”  

“And you need magic,” Alya repeated, deadpan. She looked like she was repressing the urge to sigh.

“Don’t be like that,” Marinette said. “You’ve only dated one guy, and Nino is perfect. You guys have the magic.”

“I know, I know,” Alya said. “I just want to make sure...well, that nothing’s holding you back. It’s not like you’ve dated that many boys, either.”

She narrowed her eyes, but she wasn’t about to bring up his name first. She knew how it must seem from Alya’s perspective; she had had a crush on Adrien for so long, had built him up in her head for years before they dated, and what if she was confusing that for being it, you know.

But she’d known magic, real magic, had trusted nothing but a pair of earrings and a boy with a ring to keep her from falling to her death a thousand times over. That was magic. He was magic. And if she could date someone like predictable old Adrien after knowing him, than she could date anyone.

“I know what I’m looking for, Alya,” Marinette said. “Trust me. I’ll know him when I meet him.”

“Alright,” Alya said. “I’m with you no matter what, okay?”

She smiled. “Thanks, Alya,” she said. “I needed that.”

Day 426

Chat Noir could only track Ladybug when she was transformed. Adrien Agreste could only track Marinette through stalking and begging.

“I need to apologize to Marinette,” Adrien said, pouncing on Nino as soon as he walked out the door of the radio station.

Nino stumbled backwards. “Dude, you scared me,” he said. “How long were you waiting there?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Adrien answered. “Can you-”

“Was it more than an hour?” Nino asked.

“Half hour, max,” he said. “Listen, Nino. I need to apologize to Marinette.”

Nino groaned and started walking down the sidewalk, Adrien hot on his heels. “What is up with you two?” he said. “Can you not drag me and Alya right into the middle of your relationship drama again?”

“I’m sorry,” Adrien whined. “Look, you were right. I was an asshole. I’m trying to fix it. Can you just tell me where Marinette lives these days?”

“Ask her yourself.”

“I don’t have her number anymore,” Adrien said. “And I don’t want to do this over the internet. Please, Nino. Please, please-”

“I don’t know, dude,” Nino said. “She was pretty upset on Saturday. I don’t want to do anything that would make her uncomfortable.”

He deflated. “You’re right,” he said. “I don’t want that either. I wouldn’t ask - I mean, maybe I shouldn’t be asking, but...”

Nino squinted. “You want to get back together,” he said slowly.

Adrien squirmed under his gaze. “Maybe,” he said. “I don’t know if I deserve Marinette, honestly. I just want to make things right between us.”

“Is that what you were fighting about on Saturday?” Nino asked. “Because Alya - nevermind.”

“What?” he asked instantly.

“I shouldn’t say,” Nino said, pulling out his phone. “Look, I’m going to give you Marinette’s address.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said emphatically. “Seriously. You’re the best.”

“You didn’t get it from me,” Nino said. “But also, I’m warning Marinette that you’re coming.”

“So I definitely got it from you,” Adrien said. “Great. Any hints as to what Alya knows?”

“You are on your own,” Nino said, typing something before sliding his phone back in his pocket. Adrien felt his own phone vibrate. “But, seriously, be nice to her. We’re not 18 anymore, so if you two insist on dancing around each other-”

“I’m not,” Adrien interrupted. “Ah, dancing anymore. I’m serious about Marinette. She’s…” he swallowed. “She’s it, Nino.”

His best friend raised an eyebrow. “I know,” he said. “Go get her.”

Day -211

“How was dinner with your parents?”

“It was great!” Marinette answered, bouncing in her seat. “My mom loved her birthday present, and she appreciated your card.”

“Awesome,” Adrien echoed, plopping down next to her on the couch and reaching over to grab her hand. “I’m glad you have fun.”

“I did,” she answered, squeezing his hand. “You should come next time.”  

“Maybe,” he said.

“Oh, come on,” Marinette whined, tugging his hand back and forth. “My parents would love it if you stopped by more.”

“Would you like it?” he asked softly.

“Of course!” she chirped. “Adrien, you are always welcome.”

He squeezed her hand again and smiled distantly, but he didn’t meet her eyes. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll come next time.”

“I mean, I don’t want to force you, or anything,” Marinette said. “What’s the problem? You’re so good with people.”

“It’s not my people skills I’m worried about,” he mumbled. “I just feel bad that I, ah, can’t reciprocate the gesture, I guess.”

Her heart flipped. Was Adrien really feeling guilty about not having parents to bring her to? “Adrien,” she said. “Don’t worry about that.”

“I know it’s dumb,” he said.

She flung her arms around him. “It’s not dumb,” she said. “It’s how you feel. Look, if you ever want to talk about-”

“Nope,” he interrupted, pushing her back by the shoulders and flashing a smile at her. “I’m fine, Marinette, really. Just a little awkward.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure?”

His smile never slipped. “I promise,” Adrien said.

Day -506

He kept whacking his right hand into things.

It’s not like the ring had been heavy, or anything. It had been regular ring-sized, but apparently the few grams of weight had been permanently calculated into his system, because... now his right had was too light. He kept hitting whatever wall, furniture, or person who had the misfortune to be standing on that side of him. The gaps in between his fourth finger and the rest seemed too large, as well, like his finger was too skinny. He felt practically naked all the time, and that’s not to mention the goddamn tan-line from suddenly revealing a patch of skin that hadn’t seen the outside world in years.

(None of his friends had noticed, except for Chloe, but that probably because he’d been largely skipping school and avoiding them the last two weeks to deal with the whole Hawkmoth-is-my-father thing).

He wondered, vaguely, if Ladybug was having the same problem. He’d never had his ears pierced, so he couldn’t imagine - did her earlobes feel naked? Did her head feel too light? Was her house also too empty, the silence ringing louder than her kwami’s chatter ever had and did the back of her eyelids also pulse with vision of her parents’ anguished faces when she tried to sleep-

Stop.

He took a deep breath to cut off the rising panic in his gut. It’s over now. All that’s behind you.

The house was still too empty, and his right hand was too light.

I need to get out of the house, Adrien thought, instinctively looking towards the window. He’d almost taken a step forward before he remembered he didn’t have to sneak out, anymore. He could walk right out the front door if he wanted.

There’s no Ladybug waiting for you if you take the front door, a voice in the back of his head warned. It sounded suspiciously like Plagg.

Well, maybe there was. They’d both promised to stay in Paris, so theoretically Ladybug - civilian Ladybug, by now - would be going out for a walk the same time as he would be. Maybe she was arguing with herself about taking the window, too. Adrien bit the inside of his cheek and reminded himself to compare notes, later.

It might be much later, the voice in his head continued.

“Shut up, Plagg,” he mumbled out loud, jumping to his feet and looking around for his shoes. He felt itchy - restless in this big empty house and his small empty ring finger and enough energy thrumming in his bones to run a lap around all of Paris-

You feel off balance because you miss Ladyb-

His phone pinged.

Hey, Adrien, are you free tomorrow? Marinette messaged. I was thinking we could hang out, maybe go on a day trip to a theme park or something.

His anxiety instantly vanished. I am free! he messaged back. That sounds great!

I’ll pick you up bright and early then, she replied. See you then!

Day 426

Adrien was waiting in her hallway outside her front door. He was leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, fingers pattering a rhythm against his arms. With his bangs swept low, he looked almost like Chat Noir - which was ridiculous, because he was Chat Noir, of course he looked like Chat Noir.

He looked like a thunderstorm.

“Nino said you might be coming,” Marinette announced, letting the stairwell door swing shut behind her.

Adrien bounced up. “Marinette,” he said. “Hi. It’s really good to see you.”

“Adrien,” she answered coolly.

He stilled. “Can we talk?” he asked. “Inside? I...have some things I need to say.”

She unlocked her front door without looking at him. “Fine,” she said. “Come on in.”

Her apartment was bright from the setting sun, like it always was this time of year. Adrien barely glanced around before settling against the kitchen table and pinning her with a stare. “About Saturday,” he said.

“What about Saturday?”

“I’m sorry,” Adrien said. “I was wrong. You didn’t do anything I didn’t do, and I’m sorry I resented you for it.”

“That’s fine,” Marinette answered, looking away as she hung up her coat and toed off her shoes. “I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

“You didn’t,” he said. “I mean, your partner had just blown you off, you reacted about as well as could be expected. I was the ass who couldn’t see-”

“Adrien, stop,” she interrupted. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. “Sure, I regret arguing, but you were fundamentally right. We did date before, and it didn’t work out. Why would things be different now?”

“I was scared,” he said loudly.

She finally looked at him. “What?”

“I was scared,” he repeated. “You said you got your heart broken three times, and they were all because I was scared. When we broke up -” he swallowed, and held up one finger “-it was because I was too afraid to show you my real feelings. You were right, I did put up a front with everyone, and I - god, sorry to dump this on you, this is probably because of some childhood trauma or something, I don’t know if you’d know anything about that..”

Marinette’s lips quirked into the beginnings of a dry smile. “Gee, I wonder,” she said.

He held up a second finger. “Saturday,” he said. “Once again, it was my bad. I was being irrational, I know. I thought since you already knew the real me and all my problems - I don’t know, it was like we had betrayed each other, somehow.”

“Emotions aren’t always rational, Adrien,” Marinette said. She took a step closer.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “When we were eighteen,” he said. “And you wanted to reveal our identities then, and I said no.”

She’d always loved his eyes, but today they were clearer than they’d ever been. “I could have insisted,” she said. “I was just...surprised, and you’d clearly put some thought into it.”

“I hadn’t,” Adrien said. “Or if I did, it was bad. I remember it all just being a blur, you know. My father wasn’t even remotely who I thought he was, and...”

“You just wanted to forget,” she finished. “I get it more now that I know that you’re...I couldn’t understand, before, why Chat Noir didn’t want me.”

“I wanted you,” he said, voice low, almost a growl. “Ladyb- Marinette. I have always wanted you.”

She bit her lip. She’s done this dance with both Adrien and Chat Noir before, but never combined. “Always?” she asked.

“I’ve been in love with you since I was 14,” he told her, and he was definitely growling this time. “And Marinette, I promise, I’m done hiding and I’m done being scared.”  

Her throat was bone-dry. “Big words for a pussy ca-” she croaked, but was interrupted by Adrien stalking up to her and pressing his lips to hers.

It was nothing like their crushing kiss three days ago; he cradled her head gently, delicately, like she would break if pressed too hard. Their lips were just a whisper of a possible connection, and Adrien only held his against hers for a few seconds before drawing back slowly, his eyes fluttering open to stare at her.

Marinette smiled slowly looking at them, watching his trepidation melt away into relief. “I may have had some faults sometime too, you know,” she said, reaching out to take his hand. The cool band of metal on his ring finger felt insanely right. “There’s something I once told Chat Noir that I never told Adrien, and I think I need to say it.”

His hair shone golden from the light of the setting sun in the window. “What?” he asked.

“I love you,” she said.

Adrien bent down to kiss her again, a two-second burst of intensity. “I love you too,” he whispered. They didn’t leave her apartment for a very long time.

Day -522

“Wait,” Chloe said, standing in his bedroom door and staring around in dismay. “What do you mean, you’re not leaving?”

“I’m not leaving,” Adrien repeated, ripping some tape off a cardboard box. It was with his right hand, so he pulled way too hard and ended up whacking his hand into the wall behind him. “Ouch.”

“After all that shit packing up the entire mansion?” Chloe said. “After you rushing the police investigation and insisting that you had to leave Paris as soon as possible, you’ve suddenly changed your mind?”

“I was in shock, Chlo, give me a break,” he huffed. “If you found out your dad was Hawkmoth, you’d want to run away too.”

“Adrien, stop - stop unpacking,” she ordered. “I know it’s been a hell of a week for you, but you were so sure you were going to go away for university. You need to sit down and think about this.”

“I’m staying in Paris,” he snapped. “Have fun in Geneva without me.”

She stepped forward and put her hand over his, stilling his movements. “Adrien,” she said softly,  and then paused, looking down. “Don’t you usually wear a ring?”

“Not anymore,” he said stiffly, pulling away. “I’m staying in Paris. I - I can’t go, Chloe, I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

“Fine,” she said. “Adrien, just - just don’t stay in this giant house all by yourself, okay?”  

He swallowed. “I’ll make some friends.”

Day 476

Adrien hadn’t known Marinette and Alya to be the kind of girls who squealed, but clearly he was wrong. Alya had flashed her engagement ring at them and that was the last coherent communication from either of them for the next 5 minutes.

Adrien, who had clapped Nino on the back and said, “Congrats, bro,” had exhausted all his comments on the subject about 10 seconds in.

“Thanks,” Nino said. “Glad you could make it to dinner.”

“I missed the double dates,” Adrien said, skimming the menu. “What to split a cheese platter for the table?”

“Are you back on cheese again?” Nino asked. “You went through baskets of it in high school but I thought you’d stopped.”

“I like cheese a normal amount,” Adrien defended. He was thankful Plagg was spending his time with Tikki in Marinette’s purse and was probably too deafened by the squeals to hear.

“You used to inhale it,” Nino said. “You never left the house without it.”

“Fine,” Adrien said. “No cheese-”

“No, we can have cheese,” Nino said. “Babe, what do you think?”

This seemed to finally rouse Alya and Marinette from their reverie, and the two girls turned back to them with twin pairs of beaming smiles. “Yes!” Alya exclaimed. “Whatever it is, yes.” Marinette giggled.

“I love that you do that,” Nino said. “But a guy can only propose once, you know.”

“Challenge accepted,” Adrien said loudly, making eye contact with Marinette. She flushed but didn’t look away, biting her bottom lip to unsuccessfully contain a smile.

“What does that even mean?” Alya asked.

“You’ll know when it happens,” Adrien said. Marinette winked at him, tugging on her earring in one ear after she brushed hair out of her face. He loved that she looked at him when she did that now.

“Not if I beat you to it, Agreste,” Marinette said.

“Is that a challenge, my lady?”

“A challenge implies it would be challenging to win,” she said.

“Excuse you?” Adrien asked. “I love you more, so how could you possibly-”

“Oh god, not this again,” Alya interrupted.

“Waiter?” Nino asked. “A plate of cheese for the table?”