The Bug Bites

1- Break a leg

Adrien couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Of course, that was no surprise. Marinette had snuck up on him slowly throughout the years. At first, he'd been too deeply entrenched in his infatuation with Ladybug to notice her. Then, after a photoshoot at the pool a couple years ago, his umbrella had shut over both of their heads and he'd been captivated by her laughter. He'd been caught up in the feeling of wanting to spend more time with her, and the disappointment of watching her walk away without him. He'd been hit in the head with the truth that day, somewhat literally since he seemed to recall having banged his head on the roof of the car as he climbed inside.

Marinette was...something.

Days turned into weeks, which turned into months and finally years. And something? Something turned into almost everything.

There had been a time when being Chat Noir had been his everything, and maybe that was why he'd latched on so tightly to Ladybug when he'd been younger. But running away from his real-life problems by running across rooftops had lost its effectiveness over the years. His father had steadily became more and more distant, which Adrien hadn't really believed possible. His schedule became so packed on some days that he'd considered joking to Nathalie that she ought to schedule him some time to breathe.

Superheroing became just one more part of his hectic life and stopped being the simple escape he'd once so desperately craved. He'd found himself needing something to tether himself to the real world before he lost himself in the darkness.

Marinette wasn't responsible for all of that, of course. It was too much for one person, and he'd never want to burden her with that. But aside from Nino, who'd wanted to help but hadn't quite known how, Marinette had been the first to notice when the light inside him had started to dim.She was the one who'd gone out of her way to coax even the smallest of smiles out of him. It washer encouragement that he could make his own decisions about the future, be whoever he wanted to be, that had made him believe for the first time that maybe he really could.

He and Ladybug were still close—they had to be to trust each other the way they did. Even though Rena Rouge had become a permanent hero, it was mostly still the two of them against the world, and he considered Ladybug to be one of his best friends. But because of the masks between them, she couldn't understand him the way he needed. And Marinette could. She was there for him.

Marinette was there, and he couldn't look away.

He was hopelessly in love with her. Not to be dramatic—except ok, maybe a little bit to be dramatic, since he was Chat Noir and all, so he kind of had a knack for that—but he felt as if every molecule in his body was alerted to her presence when she was nearby. He'd all but developed a sort of preternatural sixth sense for knowing exactly when she walked into a room.

And if he was spending the entirety of his break at today's photoshoot, which his father had surprisingly allowed him to invite her to, staring at her? Well, it was the Universe's fault for making her eyes sparkle in a way that drew him in. For the way her smile tugged at her lips as she talked to Grace, the junior designer assisting with the shoot. For the way that when she noticed he was staring she blushed crimson and looked away quickly, only to peek back at him a second later and giggle as she no doubt caught the dopey smile on his face.

Today though, the fact that he couldn't take his eyes off of her happened to be a particularly good thing.

He ought to have known that things couldn't possibly go this well at a photoshoot where Lila was present. His stomach had flipped nervously when Nathalie had informed him that due to a last minute change, his Friday afternoon session was no longer the solo shoot he'd expected. He'd never have invited Marinette along if he'd known, given the fact he knew Lila was out to get her, but when he'd told Marinette about the change she'd been determined not to let Lila ruin the day she was already excited about.