Thunderstorms Series: Part 1

Chapter 9: Her weakness

She heard a thump on her balcony and let out a smile as she curled up in a ball on her bed, closing her eyes. She felt the bed shift as she felt a body lay down next to her. She opened her eyes and smiled as she saw Chat noir.

"Can... I see your side again? Please... my lady." Chat said, guilt seemingly to be overwhelming him.

"I looked at it clearer earlier in the mirror. It isn't a bruise." Marinette said with a sigh.

Chat looked to her side and lifted her shirt high enough to see the bruise clearly now. She was right. It was a black and purple Akuma-shaped bruise of some kind. He lightly ran his finger along with it, seeing her face show pain. He could feel the darkness and heat resonate off of her skin and he gave her a worried look.

"How.. bad is it?" Marinette grit her teeth.

Marinette sat up and looked at him in the eyes, as he didn't give her an answer.

"To think... you're.."

Marinette once again stopped his words with her hand and smiled.

"It's alright. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I thought it would be more dramatic but... " She laughed awkwardly.

"Dramatic? You're extremely hurt!" Chat said, tears starting to form. "And it's my fault. I should have taken the hit, not you!"

Marinette jumped towards him, pulling him close to her, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace.

"No one should have gotten hit. This isn't your fault. This is Hawkmoth's fault. Not yours." Marinette said, feeling him cautiously hold her as well, avoiding her bruised area.

Just as he leaned his head away from hers, a crack of thunder and lightning could be seen from above them from the balcony window. She felt Chat jump but only smiled at him comfortingly.

"Wanna stay the night?" Marinette said softly.

Chat smiled and nodded, detransforming.

Marinette blushed and turned away.

"Does my civilian self make you... nervous?" Adrien smirked.

"It's not like I've had the crush of the century on you since you gave me that umbrella." Marinette laughed nervously.

"You... have?" he blushed.

Marinette nodded slowly and covered herself up in her blankets to hide from his vision.

"It's ok, bugaboo. I liked you for a while too." Adrien confessed, pulling the blankets over him as well.

Marinette turned to face him and felt like the night couldn't get any better.

"I didn't get any of my designs done..." Marinette sighed.

"It's ok. We can skip school tomorrow and finish them. We can get them done before the fashion show." Adrien smiled.

Marinette hugged him tightly, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers. She looked up into those emerald eyes and closed her eyes. Adrien closed his eyes and touched her lips with his and felt his cheeks burning with excitement.

He was kissing Marinette. He was... kissing Ladybug. This entire time, Ladybug was Marinette. How could he not see it before, but it made him twice as happy. He fell in love with her twice.

He pulled her closer to him, wrapping her in his embrace to not only comfort himself during the thunderstorm but to also show how much he loved her. They both drifted off to sleep and it seemed that Adrien wasn't as jumpy around thunderstorms as he had been in years. Maybe thunderstorms weren't something to fear like he first thought. They illuminated the roaring excitement that jumped within the clouds. Just as Ladybug had illuminated the way to win any fight with her miraculous as he jumped around helping assist her. They were a perfect thunderstorm together.

Adrien woke up feeling her still laying against him as he noticed that they were still intertwined under the blankets. While he was asleep, he had unknowingly matched her breathing and felt her rising and falling as he breathed in and out. This was nice. He took a second to just sit there and appreciate everything that had happened these last few days. He felt her shift and started to wake up and for some reason, he closed his eyes to pretend to sleep, just as a child would if they heard their parents coming to check on them.

Marinette looked down at Adrien, who seemed to be asleep, and sat up. She stretched and climbed down the ladder, disappearing into the kitchen below her bedroom. Plagg flew out and groaned at Adrien, knowing fully well he was awake.

"Come on, I'm hungry. I need my sweet sweet camembert." Plagg sighed.

Tikki flew over to Plagg and nudged him as she rolled her eyes.

"Sugar cube!" Plagg smiled.

"Ugh... stop calling me that."

"Never my little sugar cube."

Adrien let out a soft laugh as he sat up. Adrien looked around for Marinette but couldn't find her so he decided to climb down, as... soon as he made her bed. It was the least he could do after what he put her through, especially since he hurt her.

"Adrien? What are we going to do about that mark?" Tikki asked, concerned.

"It looks really bad, but maybe it will heal?" Adrien asked, smoothing out her blanket.

"Shouldn't the ladybug have healed and restored everything?" Plagg asked.

"Well... my powers that I give her are... like a double-edged knife. I give her abilities, yes, I give her the most luck anyone has ever had, while you give Adrien the hitting power he needs to do his role as well as the ability to get hit. You ever wondered why she got two powers while Chat noir only got his Cataclysm? Well, it's more of a passive power for you." Tikki said, sighing.

"Hmm... no wonder when I cataclysm myself it didn't take long for me to start helping out again. Though that really hurt!" Adrien said, grabbing his rib as he remembered what it felt like.

"Yeah well... if Ladybug ever got hit with that. I fear she wouldn't bounce back." Tikki said, averting her eyes.

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