Alter Ego (An Adrien Agrest/Chat Noir X OC Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty-Two: What I Like About You

Adrien and I sat on the floor of my bedroom, laughing as I took off my makeup and recounted what had happened with the Akuma.

"So obviously we had to keep her distracted, so I basically just told her my life story but pretended it was a fairy tale." I said, carefully removing my contacts and putting them back into their case.

"What did that sound like?" He asked. 

"Like a Princess coming to live in a magical land with a famous dressmaker named Galadriel and his son Adrianis." he laughed.

"Adrianis, huh?" He asked as I took my wig off and deposited it on the Styrofoam wig head Gabriel had given me. I looked in the mirror just in front of me, taking my hair down from its bun and combing it out with my fingers.

"Ugh, wig head. My hair is a disaster." I said, shaking my fingers through it.

"I think its beautiful," He said, drawing my gaze back to him, "Its nice to see the real you again. I like who you are." I smiled.

"That...that was in my story too, actually." I said, nervously tucking some of the strands behind my ear. "I said that the princess had felt like a ghost, just drifting through her life and that...you are the first person who's ever really seen me, and...you're not scared of it."

"Why would I be scared of you?" He questioned. I shrugged.

"Well not scared per say," I corrected, "Just you know...like we talked about the other night. Everyone back home is expecting me to be the princess. I'm supposed to be dignified and graceful and have it all together all the time. No one wants the Eloise who...laid in your bed sobbing at 3 AM."

"I do," he replied, "Well, I'd prefer you weren't crying, but you know what I mean." I laughed. 

"That's why I'm so thankful for this." I said, putting my hand over his on the floor between us, "I mean, yes, this situation is less than ideal but...I got to come here and meet you. I got the confirmation that I  think I've always been looking for that-"

"The person you really are is enough," He finished for me, "Its not something to hide or be embarrassed about..."

"But something to embrace," I continued, "those things that you thought you had to hide away; the things you thought no one would ever want, they're the things that make you, you which is what-"

"-I like about you."

Our eyes found each other's as the words fell from our lips in perfect unison. I swallowed, tilting my head to the floor. This only lasted a second though before Adrien's fingers wrapped lightly around my chin, lifting my head up so that I was looking at him again. 

"Its actually not just what I like about you, its...its why I like you." He said quietly. "I really like you, Eloise." I bit my lip through a smile.

"I like you too." I answered.

"But, I mean, not as a friend-"

"Yeah, I got that." I laughed and he smiled, moving his hand to rest on the side of my face. "I still feel the same way."

"Good. Just checking." I shook my head, leaning my forehead against his. "I...I really want to kiss you. Would it be alright if-"

His words were cut off by the ringing of my phone.

We both groaned and I pulled away, pulling it out of my pocket to glance at the caller ID. My face dropped as my mother's picture appeared and I jumped to my feet, holding the phone to my ear and wrapping an arm around myself. 

"Mom? Hey, thanks for calling back."

"No problem, kiddo." My jaw dropped slightly as the sound of my father's voice filled my ear. 

"Dad? I thought Mom was calling me to update me on your appointment. Not that I'm not happy to hear from you, of course-"

"Well, I talked to your mother and...we both decided that it was best that this news come from me." My smile faltered, and I turned back to look at Adrien. He was standing now, and wasted no time walking over to stand in front of me and grab my free hand in his. 

"Ok. Yeah, what's the verdict?" I squeezed Adrien's hand as the tears welled up; strongly suspecting where this was going.

"Well...in the words of Dr. Steinbeck...I am going to make a full recovery."

I screamed, bouncing slightly, causing Adrien to smile along with me.

"Really? You're not messing with me, this is for real?"

"Why would I mess with you about something like this? I'm gonna be fine, El!" I laughed, releasing Adrien's hand to cover my mouth, as I began to cry tears of a different sort.

"Oh, that's so great. Oh, I'm so happy." I met Adrien's eyes again, only to be met with an unfortunate realization. "So...that means I can come home, right? Back to Eustora?"

Adrien's smile dropped in time with mine. 

"Well...actually-" There was a staticky sound on the other line, presumably the sound of my mother's cell phone being torn away from my Dad.

"He doesn't get to share all the good news," Mom said, "We were talking about it and we thought that we'd leave it up to you. Since your father's doing better, and there's no rush to get back, we thought you'd like to decide for yourself; Come back to Eustora and continue your home schooling, or stay in school in Paris." 

"You're letting me choose?" I asked. My dad stole the phone again.

"Well of course. How are you expected to be Queen one day if we don't trust you to make your own decisions? Plus, from what I hear, you're going to get plenty of practice with that family heirloom of ours." I chuckled.

"So...you're really ok? There's no danger of me staying here?" Adrien's eyes widened.

"No, there's no danger. Whatever you want to do, your mother and I will support you."

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that." 

"We thought you might be. Well, we'll give you some time to think it over, but we just wanted to let you know."

"I'm glad you did," I answered, "I love you guys."

"We love you too!" Mom shouted from the background.

"Love you too Eloise. Have a good night, kid."

"Thanks Dad. Bye." I hung up and burst out laughing as I looked at Adrien. He laughed too as I rushed forward, throwing my arms around his neck. "He's fine! He's going to be fine, and they're still going to let me stay!" 

"That's great!" He wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me back. I bit my lip, unable to control the size of my smile as I pulled back to look at Adrien again. He smiled back, his green eyes looking all the more vibrant due to my proximity to them.

"You...have really pretty eyes," I pointed out, "Seriously, how does no one look at Chat Noir and not notice that you have the same eyes?" He shrugged.

"I guess no one looks close enough at both of us to pick up on things like that." He said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper as his hands remained on my waist. I smiled, putting one hand on his shoulder and lifting the other to his face, brushing his hair aside with my fingers. 

"I do," I replied, "I like both of those sides of you."

He smiled back, and my heart began to hammer nervously in my chest as I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips against his.