LadyNoir One Shots

Merging Lives

"Adrien?!"

Oh dear god.

He hadn't noticed the beeps from his ring. He hadn't noticed the time running out. He didn't register anything, not when he was talking to her, the girl who made time skip by like it didn't matter. He hadn't realised he had transformed back, back to his normal self, Adrien Agreste. Right before Ladybug's eyes.

"Oh god - oh my god -" he panicked, realising the situation. His identity was blown. "Ladybug - wait - how do you know my name?" She stuttered and her eyes grew wide beneath her mask. The dim street lights made her face glow like the moon above them and he realised that now was the worst time to realise how damn gorgeous she was.

"Because you know me," she whispered. Her earring bleeped warningly; a flash of light removed her costume and she became the girl he'd always seen, but never truly noticed. Until now.

"Marinette?" Adrien breathed. How hadn't he seen it before? She was every bit as beautiful as Ladybug; no, even more so, now her mask was gone. Her brazenness and her innocence balanced each other so insanely well he didn't know it was possible; she was looking at him like everything was hinging on this moment, his reaction to seeing her as she truly was...

"I would have told you," she murmured under her breath, "I just thought, you, you'd never love me as me, as Marinette; Ladybug's so much better at this than I am, it's why everything is so easy when I'm her, why it's easier to talk to you -"

"But -" he stammered, "there's nothing special about me!"

"Yes there is!" She wrung her face in her hands in exasperation. "You're Adrien Agreste!"

"And you're Ladybug!"

Marinette mentally slapped herself in the face.

"Does it matter now? Does any of this matter? Realistically we should we just stop fighting together; I mean our cover's blown now and so it means we're ridiculously vulnerable to Hawkmoth because we could be attacked in our own homes and it's probably about ten times more dangerous than it was before and it's all my fault; I didn't leave in time and I've just put you in all this danger -"

"Marinette -"

"And not to mention our friends and family! They're going to be first in line now! Oh my God, my mama and papa, everything, if I'd have just left -"

"Marinette!" Her eyes snapped open, wide. He swallowed, hard, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "Shut up." In spite of herself, she let out a tiny whimper which could have been of fear, it could have been a giggle. He simply didn't know.

He took her hand in both his own as he'd done with her alter ego so many times before. He kissed it softly and for the first time, she didn't push him away. Instead, she pulled him by the hand so she was pressed against his chest, wrapped into an embrace. He melted into her and he fully realised how small she was, how her fragile, willowy frame fitted his lithe and wiry one like they were built for each other.

"I've loved you for so long," she mumbled into his shirt and he gripped her tighter at that. His hand anchored her to the earth, fastened to her lower back. "I longed to tell you, God, I needed to tell you -"

"I felt like I was living two separate lives, loving you both," he replied, his fingers weaving through her hair, "and I was living with guilt, trying to choose between you and Ladybug. I loved you both, but now," he opened his eyes, a bottle green meeting a cyan blue,  "I don't have to." 

He smiled helplessly as he drew away from her. Marinette's hands were still latched to his shoulders and his were resting in the dip in her waist. Her face broke into a smile so wide it must have stretched from ear to ear and she wound her fingers into the hair on the nape of his neck, pulling him down to meet her lips.

He'd always dreamt of kissing Ladybug, even thought about Marinette a couple of times too, but now he could kiss both and not feel guilty about it. There would be no more sleepless nights pondering the two and trying to decide which would cause him the most pain to leave. Now, he knew that they were one and the same and he could take her into his arms and hold her forever knowing that he could love them both entirely. And damn, she was good at this. Part of him wondered with trepidation and slight envy how she learnt to kiss so well (and more importantly who the HELL had been her tutor) but another part of him wanted to thank them for teaching his lady so... Expertly.

When they drew away eventually, both were breathing hard and heavy and their hair was a tangled mess (not that Adrien's wasn't already ruffled, but thanks to Marinette now it was even more so). He grinned at her and she didn't look at him but her mouth was curled deliciously into a smile, one he'd seen so many times and one he loved so much.

"No matter what happens," he murmured, "I promise I'll protect you. Whatever happens, I'll be there and I'll never let you get hurt. I swear Marinette."

"Between you and me," she replied, a little more than a whisper and a little smile playing with the corner of her mouth, "I think I can protect us both well enough. Don't you?"

"It's why I love you, my lady," Adrien replied with a bow that could only have been from Chat Noir and he kissed her hand which now made her laugh and blush rather than push him away.

"You dork," she grinned before pulling him close and he closed the gap between them which had remained open for far too long. They were sure as hell glad they decided to change that. With immediate effect.

A/N Cliché and crap but eh it's my first real contribution to this fandom and oh my lord it's amazing; everyone's so trashy and united over one pairing and it's beautiful. You can expect a lot more from this book in the future.