One Miraculous Circus

Chapter 16

That night Marinette went to sleep with Adrien rushing through her head and Adrien had Ladybug running through his. The days to come were days to remember for them both.

The school day rolled around quickly and yet the two still had their minds stuck constantly on each other. Marinette ran into school the next day having woken up early for the first time in forever. She walked into the school to the soundtrack of a shouting Alya as she called the bluenette over. 

"Have you seen the Ladyblog yet Mari?" Alya asked while Marinette responded by shaking her head, "Adrien kissed Ladybug on stage yesterday and she ran away, I wonder how he's feeling about the whole thing." 

As if on cue Adrien walked through the school gate but he seemed happier than usual which they thought was strange based on the consequences but they didn't know Adrien was Chat, his reaction was secretly justified. 

"Why are you looking a lot jollier today? Thousands of people saw what happened yesterday, thought you'd be sadder," Alya questions as the boy joined them outside the classroom. 

"I'm going to talk to Ladybug later. There may be no show but the circus is open for circus members to learn new choreography and lucky for me, I'm teaching Ladybug her choreography and we've been asked to do a duet," Adrien smiled while doing a little dance on the spot. 

Mari went beet red at his reaction to getting to do a duet with her but she covered her face quickly. On the inside, she was doing summersaults at the idea of being able to do a duet with him but she had to act natural, she wasn't going to reveal her identity when she didn't have the intention to.

School seemed to pass slowly as if it wanted to make the waiting for the circus excruciatingly painful for them both. They waited eagerly for the school bell to ring through the classrooms, tapping their feet impatiently. Tap. Tap. Tap. As soon as the bell rang they sprung from their seats and ran straight home, they couldn't wait another minute to see each other. Rehearsals always started an hour or two before the normal time that the circus opens for shows to give them time to learn everything before the performance the next day. Mari quickly packed a bag like every day but included a few snacks this time as rehearsals got exhausting quickly. She threw the bag on her shoulder and started to speed walk towards the circus building.

Adrien grabbed a backpack when he got home and recklessly threw the stuff he needed into it. He attempted to tie the red bowtie that was part of his uniform but gave up after a few tries, throwing it into his backpack. Downstairs, on the long dining room table, lay a lunch box Natalie had prepared for him, he grabbed it and pushed past gorilla (his bodyguard) and through the door. He was hit with bitterly cold air but he pushed through it with confidence to get to the circus building a few blocks down.

When Ladybug entered the huge circus building all the members were spread out along the floor, practising their new routines. People around her flipped and the fire performers shot orange flames into the space above them. She threw her bag onto the floor and went to take off her hoodie before realising she wasn't wearing it. She cursed as she searched through her bag, noticing she had forgotten her hoodie and that she'd be walking home in the dark, cold town with nothing to keep her warm. 

When she turned around to begin her stretches she saw the boy of her dreams burst through the doors, his hair scruffy and his tie missing. His eyes were scanning the room but stopped when he made eye contact with Ladybug. They stared at each other for a while before Gabriel dragged his son to the office. Ladybug's smile faded slightly but instead of dwelling she started her stretches and went up to the silks to start to practice.

The spotted acrobat was hung upside down the silks after a failed drop and turned herself right way up before attempting again. She dragged herself up the fabric, aiming to get to the top. She reached the top of the material, wrapped it around her waist and let go. She gracefully spun through the air but halfway down she grabbed back onto the silks. She flipped around so she was facing upwards instead of downwards like before and then continued to drop. The fabric continued to unravel as she fell but just before she hit the floor she stopped herself and lowered her feet to the floor and she stood up straight, Adrien stood in front of her. 

"Back from the principal's office Adrien?" Ladybug asked, sarcastically. 

"Just for you Ladybug," he responded before putting a hand on her face and kissing her passionately. 

Ladybug melted into the kiss and ran her hand through his silky hair. He pulled her closer with his spare hand and left it hovering on her waist. They came up for air and looked at each other with red faces. 

"I've been thinking about you all day Ladybug," Adrien said, staring longingly into her blueberry eyes. 

"You haven't spent much time out of my head either Adrien."