The Wedding Planner

Chapter 17

He nods, his eyes still strained in a way that makes it seem like he's holding back his words. He's either thinking about what to say or he just knows if he opens his mouth he won't be able to stop himself.

The air is charged between them, and they both can feel it. Their arms brush and Mari flinches, "Sorry," she whispers, keeping a wider gap between them, but soon finds herself nearly touching him again, like a magnetic pull.

She concentrates on this so hard that she nearly walks past her own boutique. She takes two steps before realizing Adrien has stopped at the front door, with a raised eyebrow.

She doubles back and fumbles with her eyes in the dim light. Patiently, Adrien waits until the large glass doors pull towards him, both of them stepping into the dark office, lit only by the streetlights and moon.

Marinette finds her throat dry while she backs into the doors, shutting them.

Adrien turns to see her silhouetted against the glass, his jaw would have dropped again if he wasn't watching himself.

He stands just out of the light, shrouded in the darkness of the office. Even without the skin-tight leather suit, she sees Chat. She swallows, "A-Adrien, I-"

"We got it!" Plagg exclaims, emerging with Tikki, who is holding some papers, from elsewhere in the office.

Marinette's hand flies to her chest, "God, you scared me!"

Adrien jumps a bit but doesn't comment.

"Sorry," Tikki apologizes before Plagg can say something rude, "but we did find proof that Chloe is not who she seems!"

"Yeah-eh, read it and weep, Adri-kins!" Plagg mocks as Tikki lays the papers out on a nearby drafting table.

Marinette and Adrien stand on either side of the table corner. Marinette reaches to turn on the desk lamp, shedding some light on print-outs of several emails.

Adrien pulls one towards him and Marinette does the same, reading their contents. "This... this is an email Chloe sent to someone saying my Boutique is unprofessional and low quality." Her voice starts at disbelief but hardens towards the end. She pulls another email from the pile. "Same with this one! 'It's filthy and poorly managed. I suggest taking your business elsewhere'." With each email she reads, her anger slides towards grief. By the end, she's fully leaning forward on the table, head hanging. "We're going bankrupt, because of her?! I've barely spoken to Chloe in my life! W-why would she do this?"

"Because in the real world, you 'stole' Adrien from her, so she's gonna chase you out of the industry too, as if taking your memories wasn't enough!" Plagg exclaims, zipping back and forth frantically.

Marinette turns her head as she lets out a sob, covering her mouth. "Everything I've worked for is ruined." Adrien movies to her side of the table. An arm wraps around her shoulders. She stiffens and Adrien lightens his touch.

"Marinette," Adrien says gently, "please listen to me. I had no idea she was this vicious. We're going to fix this. And...I don't love Chloe. Not after this, maybe not ever." He admits to her as much as himself.

She looks at him from the corner of her eye, "What do you mean?"

He squeezes his eyes shut, "I mean, if I came back to you after my father got arrested, if I didn't shut myself away, maybe we..." His arm pulls her a little closer into his side. "Maybe we still could-"

She ducks out from under his arm, taking a step back from the table. Her arms are wrapped around her torso as if holding herself together. She doesn't meet Adrien's eyes when he turns to her, "It's too late" she replies in a soft voice.

"It's never too late. I can imagine... loving you." He takes a step towards her. "I know it's hard, choosing happiness, especially in the face of the unknown. I've failed that choice all my life, but now I'm choosing to believe in my happiness, our happiness."

"You can imagine yourself loving Ladybug. That's all." She shakes her head..

He freezes in his tracks, about an arms-length away from her. "But you are Ladybug." He reaches out to her but retracts, not wanting to push the situation. "When will you realize that you're one and the same?"

She lifts her head up slightly, scanning him, trying to tell if he's genuine.

He takes a half step forward, "I spent years loving you and didn't know it. Please, give me a chance."

She leans her head back and closes her eyes, pressing her lips together, struggling to open herself to the whole situation, "Let's just get the Miraculous back" she concedes, walking around him back to the table where their Kwamis are waiting. "What do we do?" She asks their ancient companions. She can feel Adrien's gaze on her back.

Tikki speaks up, "We have to get the butterfly Miraculous back from Chloe-"

Plagg flies out and chimes in, "Yeah, then Tikki and I can purify it and undo the bad things it was used for. Including erasing you ding-dongs' memories."

"We'll worry about that part later." Marinette says firmly, with her arms still crossed she turns back towards Adrien, "You think you can act like you love her long enough to find where she's keeping the Miraculous?" She asks formally, switching back into her role as Leader, suppressing the ache in her chest.

He nods through his sunken expression, "I'll do my best."

"I can standby as Ladybug," she suggests, "if Chloe saw 'Marinette' hanging around she'd probably get suspicious."

Adrien starts towards the door, "Hopefully I won't need the back-up. Just follow when you're ready. Come on, Plagg." He jerks his chin to signal his Kwami.

She responds with a silent nod that he doesn't see as he exits the boutique and walks to his car parked around the block.

Once out of sight, she finally relaxes, collapsing back into a nearby office chair. She covers her face with her hands.

Tikki flies closer to her, "Why are you turning him away?" She demands, getting a tad frustrated with her Chosen.

She lowers her hands, "Chat and I had a complicated relationship at best. And the most I know about Adrien was from magazine covers; and I'm expected to drop everything for him?" She vents, putting her head down on her desk.

"I promise you this will all be worth it, once we get that Miraculous back." Marinette gives a skeptical smile. "Are you dating someone in this reality? Is that why you're hesitant?" Tikki prods, slightly losing patience.

Mari sits up and shakes her head, "No, I've actually never dated anyone before."

"Any crushes?"

She shrugs, "I guess, but not like I was obsessed with any of them, really." She smirks slightly, "I had basically accepted that I don't need anybody, relationship-wise, to be content. But then Adrien Agreste, of all people, turns out to be Chat and my fiancé? I think it's broken me." She lays her head back on the desk.

"But 'content' doesn't really mean 'happy'. And Adrien will make you happy. You two have the strongest bond of any of the Chosen I've ever seen." Tikki confides, hovering near Marinette's head.

Marinette stands slowly, "Thanks," she holds Tikki and nuzzles her against her cheek as an apology. "Let's get that Miraculous. Spots on"