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Over the sound of the crowd and music, Marinette heard a familiar laugh. She stopped short, nearly causing the two people behind her to fall over. With an apologetic smile she moved aside, her eyes sweeping across the room. And in doing so, she caught sight of… him. He was standing there talking to Nino, only visible from the back, but she knew without a doubt it was him.
Marinette plowed through the crowd, using her elbows and knees to usher people aside and move faster. Nino was just moving away, which gave her ample opportunity. She came up behind her quarry and grabbed his arm just above the elbow. He yelped in surprise and nearly jerked away, but Marinette had a damn strong grip and she wasn’t afraid to put to good use.
“What are you doing here, Chat?!” she hissed in his ear.
Chat froze for a split second, then just as quickly relaxed. He turned to face her and beamed. “Princess!”
“Don’t ‘Princess’ me,” Marinette said, folding her arms across her chest.
“I’m shocked you recognized me,” Chat said, still smiling.
Marinette gave him a quick once-over. He was wearing a tailored, three-piece black suit with a white shirt and a silky green tie. A black mask was fixed over his face, but the green eyes staring at her were decidedly human. He was also missing both the tail and cat ears, of course, but it was unmistakably him.
“I heard you laugh,” she admitted. “What are you doing here?”
“I was invited.”
“You and Ladybug?” Marinette said, panicking slightly. She didn’t remember that! Oh god, what if she was supposed to be here with him –
But Chat was shaking his head. “No. My civilian self got an invite,” he clarified.
“Oh shit,” Marinette said, her face warming. “I - shit, I shouldn’t be around you. I’ll go.”
“Wait!” This time it was Chat who caught her arm. “Will you dance with me first?”
“Chat… I shouldn’t.”
“Come on, Princess. One dance. That’s all I ask. I can’t dance with my lady tonight, so allow me a dance with at least one of the beautiful women in my life.”
Against her better judgement, and in the face of his hopeful smile, Marinette caved. “One dance.”
He grinned and held out a hand. “By the way, you look beautiful. Did you make your dress?”
Marinette nodded. “It took me a long time, but I’m proud of it.” She’d stayed away from red and black for the masked ball, not wanting to tempt fate. With Chat here, she was grateful she’d done her dress in fluid shades of blue and silver, with a silver mask to match. With her hair pinned up and decorated with fake silver and blue flowers, Alya had told her she looked stunning.
The admiring look in Chat’s eyes only confirmed Alya’s opinion.
She took Chat’s hand and he escorted her out onto the floor. She wasn’t very practiced at dancing, but Chat proved to be an exceptional enough dancer to more than make up for it. He held her waist with one hand and her hand with the other, leading her around with quick, elegant movements that actually made Marinette feel graceful. It was a novel feeling when she wasn’t transformed.
“You’re so good,” she said, impressed.
“My mother taught me to dance,” he said. “She used to let me stand on her feet while we waltzed around the room.”
Picturing that, Marinette giggled. “You must’ve been so cute. Just a little kitty,” she said fondly.
Chat blushed, pink seeping out from beneath his mask. “I guess.”
He spun her around, then out. Marinette’s gown flared out around her as she twirled, then settled comfortably around her legs as Chat reeled her back in. She caught a glimpse of a few people watching them and smiled to herself.
Whether Chat knew it or not, he was getting his dance with his lady.
All too soon the song ended, and they stopped. Marinette sighed. “Thanks for the dance,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment.
“I should be thanking you. Dancing with you has been the highlight of this otherwise boring night by far.” He still had a hold of her hand; he lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Good night, my lovely Princess.”
“Good night,” she whispered. She had to stop herself from calling him something like ‘my sweet Chaton’. Every day, it got harder to remember why they had to keep their identities a secret.
Chat straightened up, gave her one last smile, and disappeared into the crowd. In seconds, Marinette couldn’t see him anymore. She decided she needed some air and headed in the other direction.
Alya accosted her before she got to the balcony, squealing. “Holy shit, girl! That was amazing!”
“Oh, you were watching?” Marinette said nervously. It wasn’t like she could tell Alya who that guy was. Not if she wanted Chat to have a moment’s peace tonight.
“Are you kidding?! My ship was sailing! Of course I was watching! I even got it on video!” Alya waved her phone excitedly.
Marinette furrowed her eyebrow. “What? Your ship?” she echoed, confused. Since when did Alya ship her with Chat Noir?
Alya looked at her like she was stupid. “You were dancing with Adrien. He kissed your hand. How are you not freaking out?!”
“No, I didn’t. I danced with -” Marinette paused. Rewound.
That was Adrien.
She’d called him Chat.
He’d called her Princess.
He’d called Ladybug his lady.
“Oh my god,” Marinette said.
Alya grinned. “There we go.”
“Oh my god!” Marinette grabbed the front of Alya’s orange gown. “Are you sure that was Adrien?!”
“Uh, yeah? I spent like twenty minutes talking to him, so -”
“I gotta go!” Marinette spun and plunged into the crowd in the direction Chat - no, Adrien had gone.
She had a cat to find.
Fortunately, he hadn’t gone far. Adrien was standing by the refreshment table, part of a crowd that was politely listening to a woman’s story. Marinette took the opportunity to study him when he wasn’t paying attention. She felt like a complete idiot for not having recognized him sooner. Of course it was Adrien. She’d only stared at the back of his head for literally years at this point.
It was the mask, she told herself. That was what had thrown her off. That, and the laugh. She could count on one hand the amount of times she’d ever heard Adrien Agreste really, truly laugh. But Chat? He was much freer with his emotions, particularly when they were in the solitude of Marinette’s bedroom. She realized, in that moment, that meant that Adrien felt free when he was with her.
It almost meant he’d seen the inside of her bedroom, which was so embarrassing Marinette almost wanted to shrivel up on the spot.
Adrien looked around and caught her eye. He seemed to know why she was standing there, judging by the resigned slump to his shoulders; he waited for a break in the story and then seized his moment to sneakily slip away, sliding through the crowd to end up right in front of her. The slight expression of guilt on his face was enough to make her feel bad. He’d probably been stewing from the moment they parted, knowing this was inevitable.
“I’m sorry,” Adrien said at once. “It’s just – you recognized me as,” he dropped his voice, “Chat, and I couldn’t think of a way to play it off.”
Marinette sighed. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I shouldn’t have approached you in the first place.” She folded her arms across her chest, not really wanting to talk about why her first instinct had been to go towards Chat’s voice as opposed to away from it.
“I’m still surprised you recognized me as… you know, and not as Adrien,” he said, a curious look in his eyes.
She flushed. “You… well, you don’t laugh very often around me,” she mumbled.
“You always seemed uncomfortable around me,” Adrien said. “And I… well, I have a reputation I have to uphold.”
As though to underscore his point, two men walked right up to them and started talking to Adrien like Marinette wasn’t even there. Now that she knew what she was looking for – seeing him through the context of her partner – she could see the veiled frustration in Adrien’s body language. He was polite because he had to be, because Gabriel was around somewhere, not because he wanted to be.
And didn’t that just sum up the entirety of Adrien Agreste’s character?
She caught his eye and motioned towards the balcony, then stepped over to the refreshment table. She got two glasses of punch and a handful of cookies and carried them with her towards the door. It was cold out, cold enough that Marinette shivered when she stepped outside, but the fresh air and promise of privacy was worth the chill. This was a conversation best held elsewhere, but she thought she’d probably burst if she didn’t find out more now.
It took a couple of minutes for Adrien to join her. He came out running his fingers through his hair, which only succeeded in making him look even more like Chat Noir. Now she understood the odd, aborted hand movement Adrien sometimes did, like he was going to touch his hair but didn’t. It probably took him ages in the morning to style his hair just right, so that no one would put two and two together.
“Sorry about that,” Adrien said, shutting the doors firmly behind him. The doors must’ve been soundproofed, because all the noise from inside was instantly cut off. All Marinette could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat and the birds in the bushes below.
“You don’t have to apologize for everything,” she said, thrusting a glass of punch at him. “Drink. You looked thirsty.”
Adrien’s eyes widened slightly. “How do you do that?” he asked as he took the glass.
“Do what?”
“You always seem to know what I need before I do,” Adrien said quietly.
Marinette blushed again and dropped her gaze, sipping at her punch. After a moment, during which Adrien watched her far too closely, she mumbled, “I guess I just know you really well.”
“Probably better than anyone else, especially now that you know about my identity,” Adrien said with a rueful smile.
Which was sad, in a way – yet Marinette could safely say that Adrien knew her better than anyone else too. Or at least, he would as soon as she gathered the courage to tell him her secret. The thought made her stomach flutter with nerves, but she told herself that she didn’t have a choice in this. It wasn’t fair for her to know about him, but Adrien be left in the dark.
“About that,” she said.
“You can’t tell anyone, Marinette. I’m sure you know that, but I just have to make sure. Ladybug’s going to kill me as it is,” said Adrien.
“You think so?” Marinette said, genuinely curious.
Adrien huffed a tired laugh and leaned against the railing. “Are you kidding? Ladybug has always wanted to keep our identities secret. She’s going to be mad that I let a civilian get close enough to Chat Noir to recognize him out of costume. It was… stupid, on my part. I just…”
“You just?” Marinette prompted when he didn’t continue.
He turned his head to look at her. “I just liked having somewhere to go, and I wasn’t sure you’d offer that to Adrien,” he murmured.
Her heart twisted in her chest. “Adrien, of course I would. You’re my friend. I… ugh. I’ve messed up,” Marinette said, more to herself than to Adrien, and sighed. “Look, the reason I’ve always seemed uncomfortable around you is because… because… I, um, mighthaveasmallcrushonyou.”
Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed, then his eyes widened. “What – really?!”
“Yes, really. Only I get all tongue-tied and stupid around you.” Marinette scuffed the floor with her foot, not looking up at him. “And… I guess that was for the best that I never told you. If you’re Chat, then you’re…” She couldn’t quite bring herself to finish off that sentence.
All those hours she’d wasted, convinced that Adrien was in love with Kagami, made her feel incredibly dumb in retrospect. Because Adrien had never said that it was Kagami; Marinette had just assumed, as the coolest girl in Adrien’s social circle, that it had to be her. She’d never once stopped to think that Adrien might be in love with someone like -
“I’m in love with Ladybug,” Adrien confirmed, and Marinette’s face flamed. “But, um… spending time with you as Chat…” He rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck.
“Oh boy,” Marinette said under her breath, fanning her hot cheeks. If that was going where she thought it was going, she really needed to say something. She was intimately familiar with what it felt like to tie yourself up over two people, and there was really no need for Adrien to do that – or so she hoped.
“Is that… it’s too much, right? I’m –”
“Don’t,” Marinette said, whirling around and pressing a finger to his lips. His eyes went even wider.
“Don’t?” he repeated, lips moving against her finger.
Marinette hastily took her hand away but didn’t step back. She looked him in the eyes. “Adrien… you don’t have to worry about Ladybug being mad at you.”
“What do you mean?” Adrien said, looking confused.
“She understands. You were lonely. I… I blame myself for not noticing that sooner.” Marinette fisted her hands in her dress.
“Princess, why would you notice? I never wanted to dump that on you,” he said.
Adrien Agreste had called her ‘princess’. Be still, her heart. Marinette bit her lip, got herself under control, and said, “I’m your partner, Chaton. I was afraid of letting myself get close to you because of this other guy I had a crush on… and because I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself if I admitted I cared about you too much. I always figured this moment would come, but I never thought it would happen quite like this.”
“You… Marinette… wait.” Adrien blinked rapidly and then slowly looked her over, starting with her hair, then moving to her eyes and face, then trailing down the rest of her body before moving back on. The stupefied look on his face spoke volumes.
Marinette smiled sheepishly. “Surprise?”
“Oh my god,” Adrien breathed. “You’re…”
“I am,” Marinette said, turning her head so that he could see. Her maman had asked her repeatedly if she was sure she wouldn’t rather wear a fancier pair of earrings, as opposed to the plain set she wore every day. Now, as Adrien’s eyes locked onto her miraculous, she was glad she’d refused.
“Holy shit. All this time I was feeling guilty talking to you because of Ladybug… and you’re her,” Adrien said, sinking back against the railing again. “You’re Ladybug.”
“I am,” Marinette said shyly. Strange as it was to admit it out loud, it was nice too… almost perfect. She reached up and gently unhooked her mask, carefully pulling it free so that it wouldn’t mess up her hair and setting it down. It wasn’t exactly the same as detransforming, but it sure felt just as momentous: her heart thudded strangely in her chest as she looked up at him again.
Adrien reached up and took his mask off too, setting it on the balcony beside hers. Seeing his eyes without a mask was weird, but good. Very good. Marinette reached up and touched his cheek, lightly tracing the place where his mask usually rested on his cheekbones and across the bridge of his nose. His skin was soft and smooth. He held perfectly still, as though she’d bolt away like a frightened fawn if he moved.
But then, softly, he said, “I’m glad it’s you.”
“I’m glad it’s you too,” Marinette whispered back. Somehow, they’d moved closer. Their faces were mere inches apart now. Adrien tucked a wisp of hair that had come free when she took her mask off back behind her ear. His fingers lingered, thumb tracing the same line.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked.
“Yes,” Marinette said immediately, because she wanted nothing more. She barely breathed as he bent his head, lightly brushing their lips together.
He paused there until she exhaled, and then he smiled and playfully bumped their noses together. Marinette giggled and reached up, letting her fingers run into his hair. It was just as soft as she’d always imagined. She wound her arms around his neck, pressing their bodies together. Adrien’s arms came around her waist and he chuckled suddenly, shaking his head.
“And to think, I didn’t even want to come tonight,” he said. “I was so jealous, thinking you were out patrolling without me.”
Marinette smiled too. “We can go patrolling later if you like,” she said.
“Yes please. Chat Noir really wants a kiss from his lady.”
“He can have one anytime he wants,” Marinette said.
Adrien grinned. “I’m holding you to that,” he said, and kissed her again to prove it.