What happens when Marinette meets Luka before band practice for the Paris music festival? Better yet, what happens when Adrien shows up and joins the band? Does Luka know about Marinette's crush on Adrien? Do Alya and Nino know about the imfamous um...
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·Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie·
When Marinette woke the next morning, she couldn't get Chat off her mind. She felt sorry for him even though she hadn't said that to him. After all, telling someone you pity them never helps the situation. As she got dressed for the day, she couldn't help but wonder who he was, but she quickly pushed the thought from her head. She couldn't know who he was; it would put them both at risk. She was still upset when she returned from breakfast.
"What's wrong, Marinette? You don't seem like your normal self this morning," Tikki inquired.
"Oh, I'm just thinking over what Chat told me about his family last night. It must be lonely being trapped in his house all the time."
Tikki nodded, "I'm sure. It's lonely enough being one of only two superheroes. It can't be easy to also be alone when he's a civilian."
"I wish I could do something to help, but I can't without knowing who he is and, I really don't think we should know," Marinette replied with frustration.
Tikki sighed, "Well if you do find out, I'm sure the two of you can keep it a secret."
Marinette gave Tikki a surprised look. "Did any of the previous Ladybug's know who Chat Noir was?"
"Of course. Eventually, they all figure it out. It's just a matter of when," Tikki replied.
Marinette shook her head. She never thought that she might find out who Chat was before they defeated Hawk Moth. She honestly didn't like the idea much. Even knowing that she knew him as a civilian bothered her, as it meant she had the ability to uncover his identity. Suddenly, she felt very sick as she realized Chat's reckless protection of Ladybug not only put his life in danger, but that of one of the people she knew personally. She felt as if her heart was in her stomach and she couldn't breathe. On top of her realization, her phone went off with a text from Adrien.
Apparently, my father wants me to stay home tonight. So, I can't go skating.
Now not only did she feel sick, she was sad about the ice rink. She needed air - now.
"Tikki, Spots on!" she called urgently.
As soon as her transformation was complete, she climbed up to the balcony and bolted for the edge. She threw her yo-yo as she jumped off and began soaring down the city streets. She didn't care where she went as long as she was moving.
·Agreste Château·
After a while, she seemed to be headed back to her house but before she made it, she found herself stopped near the back edge of the Agreste Property. From her vantage point she could see the angel on the top of the Fontaine du Palmier. She'd never really paid attention to it before but for some reason, it caught her attention today. She turned to leave when it suddenly started to rain. Before she leapt from the back wall of the property, she caught a glimpse of someone in one of the windows: Adrien.
Suddenly, she couldn't convince herself to move, forget leaving. He appeared to be watching her. After her gaze meets his, Adrien swung one of the windows open and backed into his room seemingly inviting her in. Marinette was shocked. She didn't want to intrude on him, especially considering she was upset about their ruined evening. However, despite her terror telling her to go home, she wanted to see him. She threw her yo-yo towards the Mansion and swung through the open window, landing only a few feet in front of him.
She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing there so she decided to say, "T-thanks, I didn't realize it was going to rain when I left home."
"It's no problem," Adrien replied. "Let's get you dried off."
He quickly made his way toward the bathroom and disappeared inside. He came back almost immediately with a towel and handed it to her with a smile. She took the towel from him with a smile of her own. While she dried off, Adrien closed the window so the rain wouldn't get in.
"Thank you again," she replied as she began to dry her hair. Even if the bakery wasn't far, she was still glad she wouldn't have to soak her own bed.
"Why were you out anyway? You weren't having to fight Akumas, I hope," he inquired, worried that she had been fighting alone.
"No, no, nothing like that. I just felt really sick and knew the fresh air would help," Marinette replied as she quickly soaked up the rest of the water on her suit.
"I guess that makes sense. Fresh air helps me clear my head when I'm frustrated as well."
Marinette finished drying off and was going to ask what to do with the towel when Adrien held out his hand knowingly. Marinette handed the towel back to him, and he disappeared into the bathroom once more. When he came back out he no longer had the towel in hand.
Marinette took a moment to glance around his room to avoid an awkward silence. She'd been in his room a few times, but always during an Akuma attack. She'd never really had a chance to look around. It was seriously huge and had so many things most kids could only dream of owning. Not that she was surprised, considering his father was one of the most famous designers in the world.
"Anything you would like to do while we wait out the rain?" he asked, gesturing towards everything she had just been surveying.
Marinette didn't know what to say. They couldn't play video games. That was probably not the best idea considering how good she was at most of them. She didn't need him comparing Ladybug to herself. They could watch a movie together; that thought made her a bit giddy. As soon as she had that thought, she couldn't resist the urge.
"It could rain for a while. Would you want to watch a movie?"
Adrien gave her a breathtaking grin, "You pick one out, and I will go make some popcorn."
Marinette gave him a nod. She used her yo-yo to swing up to Adrien's book shelves and started to look for a good one. She'd never heard of half of the movies on the shelf. She began to wonder how many of these movies Adrien had actually seen. She wasn't even through the first two shelves when Adrien returned.
"Have you really seen all of these?" Marinette asked once he had climbed the spiral staircase and stood next to her side.
Adrien chuckled, "Not all of them. Some of them are only in Japanese."
Marinette shook her head, "Japanese."
"Yeah, sometimes when I order things, they come in sets or with extras. That's how I ended up with a lot of the random things I have never seen."
"Well, it would take me till the rain stopped to look through all of these. Do you have a sorting system to help me search?"
"Of course, sorry. I should have told you about it earlier. How about you tell me what you're in the mood for and we can start from there."
Marinette thought for a moment. She didn't feel like making him suffer through a romance with her, especially since she might cry if there were any sad parts. She decided it would be best to go with an adventure or a comedy.
"How about a comedy?" Marinette supplied, realizing that Adrien probably needed some cheering up after he found out he wouldn't be allowed out tonight.
"Sounds great! Those are over here."
He motioned for her to follow him. She quickly followed him over to a new section of the DVD wall, and he pointed to a few different shelves. "This is the comedy section."
She quickly scanned a few of the titles, looking for something interesting. She could feel Adrien's eyes on her and couldn't focus.
A light blush dusted her cheeks as her eyes met Adrien's, "What is one of your favorites?"
"Hmmm..." Adrien hummed as he thought for a moment. "I would definitely have to say The Croods."
Marinette raised an eyebrow, "The Croods?"
Adrien chuckled and scanned the shelves removing the movie from the shelf, "Trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds."
"I guess I don't have much choice."
"If you hate it after twenty minutes, you can pick a different one."
Marinette followed him to the spiral stairs, and he let her go first. She was always impressed with how much of a gentleman he was even though he was a mega-famous model. When she reached the bottom, she took a seat in the middle of the couch and noticed the popcorn in the middle of the coffee table. She was starting to feel really anxious. After all, she was about to watch a movie alone with Adrien. She was internally screaming, her early worries about Chat were now a distant memory. Adrien put the movie on and grabbed the remote before taking a seat next to her. He glanced at her while the commercials played and she met his gaze. His pure green emerald eyes held her blue-bell stare. Sitting in such close proximity to Adrien had her nerves on edge.
"Like what you see?" Adrien teased in a soft voice.
Marinette blushed lightly under her mask. "Yes. But you're a famous model so you shouldn't be surprised. I'm sure lots of girls have your photos plastered all over their walls."
"Oh, I'm sure of that," Adrien replied with a chuckle, one eyebrow raised. "But do you?"
Marinette's shocked silence gave her away before she even had a chance to respond.
"It's okay, I don't mind. It's nice to know I've caught your eye."
Marinette let out the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. "I don't just like you because you're a model." As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how big of a mistake that was.
"Are you suggesting you have met me as a civilian?" Adrien asked, wide-eyed.
Chat's slip up flashed through Marinette's mind again and she realized keeping their identities hidden really was a challenge. She thought long and hard about her reply. She couldn't afford to let any more information slip.
"All I'm going to say is you're not just someone I save on a regular basis," Marinette replied before breaking their stare.
She turned her attention to the tv, which was now showing the movie's main menu. She glanced back to Adrien who was ginning. After another moment lost in each other's eyes, he pressed play on the remote. Marinette watched as he reached forward and set the remote on the table before picking up the popcorn bowl. Adrien leaned back and set the bowl on his lap, but kept his eyes on the screen.
Marinette turned her own attention to the intro of the movie now playing and tried to focus. It took her about fifteen minutes for her nerves to settle and her mind to focus on the movie instead of Adrien. Once it finally did, she enjoyed the movie very much. Her immersion in the fictional world was only broken when her gloved hand brushed Adrien's over the popcorn bowl, and when he expertly wrapped his arm around her. She could feel the warmth of his arm through her suit and almost couldn't breathe for a moment or two. She was buzzing with excitement.
When the movie ended, Marinette expertly brushed a tear away from her hidden eye and turned to him with a grin. "You were right. That movie wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was actually really great!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Adrien replied, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders gently.
Marinette could see the windows behind him and realized it had stopped raining. As much as she didn't want to go, she was worried her parents might check on her soon. If they found her room empty, it would be a disaster.
Adrien seemed to notice where she was looking and turned towards the windows then back at her. "Well, I guess the rain isn't keeping you here anymore."
"That's not the only reason I stayed, but I really should be heading home now."
"I understand. I didn't expect you to stay forever. Actually, I didn't expect you to come in at all, but I'm glad you did. I was dreading being locked up by myself all evening, and you made me forget about that for a while."
Marinette blushed again as she stood up and headed for the windows. "Glad I could help." She threw her yo-yo, preparing to leave. She even surprised herself when she turned around to say one last thing. "Just so you know, you're my favorite civilian."
Before Adrien could reply, she waved and pulled on the yo-yo. As she flew down the street towards home, she had a wide grin on her face at the expression which had formed on Adrien's face before she was pulled from the room.
