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Marinette Dupain-Cheng had known that today was going to be chaotic, but she’d never imagined just how much so it would be. Today was her last day of ever at Francois DuPont. Next year, she would be moving on to a new school and she would have to make new friends. For now, though, Marinette pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and tried to enjoy this last day together with all of her friends and classmates.
In all the chaos of today, Marinette had not expected Adrien to greet her with an “I need to talk to you.” Those we’re not words that Marinette usually heard from Adrien, but, knowing that he would also be attending a different school next year, she had agreed to listen to what he wanted to say.
The day was busy so Marinette didn’t get the chance to meet back up with Adrien until after the school day ended. She knew that his driver was waiting, but Adrien didn’t seem bothered by this, so Marinette pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
“So…” she started as they stood face-to-face. “Hard to believe we won’t be coming back to this school next year,” she continued, trying to fill the awkward silence. Marinette noticed that Adrien looked kind of nervous too, which was confusing. He was the one who wanted to talk. Why would he be nervous?
“Yeah…” Adrien answered, running his hand down the back of his neck. “We met here. It’s crazy to think about how much has changed in the span of a year, huh?”
Marinette nodded. If someone would have told her about all the things that would happen this year…becoming Ladybug, the superheroine of Paris, dating (and breaking up with) the son of Jagged Stone, finding out that her ex-boyfriend was the son of Jagged Stone, becoming such good friends with Adrien, despite their rocky start…and this was only just the beginning.
“Well, um…so,” Adrien continued, “what I really wanted to talk about it…” Then, as Marinette listened, Adrien launched into a heartfelt confession about realizing that he loved her. “I guess what I’m trying to say,” he finished, “is…Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you go out with me and grant the honor of allowing me to be your boyfriend?”
Marinette did not respond right away, blinking rapidly as she tried to process the words that Adrien had spoken so quickly. There would have been a time, earlier in the school year, when this would have been a dream come true. Things had changed, though…and so had Marinette’s feelings. “Adrien,” she started, trying not to betray her thoughts. Unfortunately, she could tell just by the expression on Adrien’s face that he knew what would be coming next. “I want to accept, but…there’s this other boy and…”
She didn’t know how to tell Adrien this without hurting him and Marinette knew that the words she was saying now echoed the ones she’d told Cat Noir that night on the rooftop (how ironic that was since Adrien was the “other boy” then and now that title belonged to Cat Noir). Luckily, she didn’t need to finish.
“It’s okay, Marinette,” he told her, his voice a bit deep; it sounded like he was holding back tears. “I get it. I’m sorry that I bothered you.” Adrien walked over to his car. The driver opened the door as he approached. “Bye,” Adrien said to Marinette. He gave a small wave and then slipped into the car.
As she watched the car leave, Marinette thought about what had just happened. It hurt to break Adrien’s heart but she couldn’t think of any other way that this conversation could have gone. The days when she had fantasized about dating Adrien were long gone, replaced with the idea of becoming closer to Cat Noir. They could be Ladybug and Cat Noir, the strongest superhero couple in Paris.
The thought had Marinette running back home so that she could retreat to her bedroom and talk about it with Tikki. As soon as Marinette ran through the bakery doors, she greeted her parents and quickly told them that the last day had gone well (because, for the most part, it had). Then, she ran up two flights of stairs to her bedroom.
“What’s the rush, Marinette?” Tikki asked.
“I had a thought today, after Adrien…” Marinette remembered again about what happened that afternoon. Then, she pushed the memory aside and continued. “I think I’ve known for awhile now how I feel about Cat Noir,” Marinette started, “but today, well…it made me realize that…I should tell him.” Marinette waited to hear what Tikki would say next. What advice would her kwami have for her?
“Well, I guess if that’s what you think is best, Marinette,” Tikki answered with a shrug. “You would know better than me.”
“Okay, that’s settled!” Marinette replied. “I’ll tell him tonight when we meet up to have that last day of school celebration that we’d planned.” She looked at her phone and saw that there were still several hours left until the planned meetup. The time was going to pass so slowly, but Marinette knew that she could spend her hours baking some treats to take with her for tonight.
That was exactly what she did, using her time to make an assortment of desserts. Marinette knew that Cat Noir enjoyed sweets almost as much as Tikki, so she was certain that her arrangement would be well-received by him for their celebration. When she was finished baking, Marinette packed the desserts up into a box and took it upstairs to her bedroom. On her way out that night, she would grab the box to take with her.
After a quick dinner with her family, Marinette again retreated to her bedroom, claiming that she wanted to work on some designs for a while. Her parents didn’t question this excuse; it wasn’t out of the ordinary. Once upstairs, Marinette made sure that her bedroom door was locked and then she called on her transformation.
Grabbing the box of treats, Ladybug left through the skylight. She swung to the meeting spot in record time. As she landed softly, Ladybug was not surprised to see that Cat Noir had already arrived. Somehow he always seemed to arrive first.
“Hi there, Cat Noir!” Ladybug greeted him with enthusiasm. “I brought treats!” As she approached, Ladybug noticed that Cat Noir seemed to be feeling down. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Cat Noir sighed and turned back to face Ladybug. “Definitely!” he answered with a smile that was so obviously faked. “What did you bring?”
Choosing to ignore Cat Noir’s faked happiness (because she already knew that she couldn’t push him to tell her what was wrong), Ladybug showed him the box. “Just an assortment of baked goods. I know this is your favorite bakery, so…” She saw Cat Noir’s eyes drift down to the logo of her parents’ bakery on the box.
“Uh, yeah…thanks, Ladybug.”
The celebration did not go as well as Ladybug had thought it would tonight. Cat Noir was strangely quiet and Ladybug found herself speaking most of the time, sharing vague details about her last day of school.
They spent about an hour together, which was much shorter than Ladybug had planned. When she had been thinking about tonight, she had blocked off several hours to spend with Cat Noir.
“Well, this was fun and all,” Cat Noir said, his tone speaking contrary to his words, “but I think I should get home. I’m kind of tired and all. It’s just been a long day.” Cat Noir stood and reached for his stick.
“Wait, Cat Noir,” Ladybug stopped him, scrambling to stand up and reach him before he left. She saw him turn back to her, waiting to hear why she had stopped him from leaving. “I…um…” Ladybug started, wishing that she would have at least practiced what she was going to say. “It’s just…I’m not very good with words and saying how I feel, but…” Looking up into her partner’s eyes, Ladybug found his expression was unreadable; she couldn’t decipher his thoughts.
“IrealizedthatIloveyouandI’msorryittooksolong!” Ladybug finally blurted out to Cat Noir. She waited for her partner to make sense of what she had just said.
Ladybug watched as Cat Noir slowly blinked and then he asked, “You…love me?”
“Yes?” Ladybug replied, feeling herself blush. Why was it so hard to admit how she felt? This was Cat Noir! He already loved her and never hesitated to remind her of that. Confessing that she felt the same should’ve been so easy! As she stared at Cat Noir, though, she noticed something strange in his body language. He seemed to stiffen a little at her response. Why? Ladybug had to wonder. Shouldn’t he be overjoyed that she finally returned his feelings? Unless…
“I’m sorry, Ladybug,” Cat Noir replied, shaking his head. “I don’t want to be with you like that anymore…or with anyone, really. I’ve realized that I’m unlucky in the love department, so I’ve kind of sworn it off now for awhile. I’m sorry, Ladybug, but I just…need to step back and think about myself for awhile.” Before Ladybug could respond, Cat Noir grabbed his stick and turned away. Glancing over his shoulder, he told Ladybug, “Have a good night. I’ll see you next time.” There was no silly pun or joke, just a somber and serious goodbye.
As he left, Ladybug sank down to her knees on the rooftop. How was this even possible? It felt like she had lost both of her favorite boys in the span of one day, all because of love and feelings.
Ladybug returned home and detransformed. Marinette plopped down on her bed and swiped her arm across her moist eyes, wiping away the unshed tears. “I don’t understand, Tikki,” she cried to her kwami. “Everything is going to be so awkward now, with both Adrien and Cat Noir. I don’t know what to do.”
“I’m sure that everything will work out, Marinette. It’ll just take some time.”
Marinette looked over at her phone. She checked her notifications and found that he phone had been rather silent tonight. It was rare when she didn’t get any messages from her friends. “Maybe I should text Adrien and check on him,” she thought out loud. “I didn’t mean to break his heart today and I feel so bad.”
Tikki flew over to sit on top of Marinette’s phone screen. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Marinette. Maybe you should give him some time?”
Marinette looked between Tikki and the phone that the Ladybug kwami sat upon, pondering the advice she’d just heard. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Tikki. I’m sure Adrien will reach out to me again as soon as things blow over…right?”
***
Five years, it had been five years since that night. Marinette still had not heard from Adrien. They attended different high schools and he had yet to reach out to Marinette. Every day, she’d check her phone to find no messages from her. Sometimes, she would scroll through her list of contacts and her eyes would linger on Adrien’s name. Her fingers would twitch, wanting to send a quick little message to him, but Marinette trusted in Tikki’s advice from years ago. When he was ready, Adrien would contact her.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, she barely saw Cat Noir too. It pained Marinette to know that her failed confession to Cat Noir had caused him to request they permanently do separate patrols. Sure, he said that it would be better, that they’d cover more ground, but Marinette knew he only suggested it because he didn’t want to be around her anymore. They never hung out, as Ladybug and Cat Noir, in their spare time anymore either. Heck, he’d even discontinued his visits to Marinette’s balcony. The only time that she saw Cat Noir now was during akuma attacks and she had a sneaking suspicion that was only to keep the press quiet. Those news outlets would have a field day speculation about a strange conflict between Ladybug and Cat Noir! As soon as the akuma was purified and the “Pound It!” was done, Cat Noir would run off with a excuse for why he couldn’t stick around anymore.
Sometimes, Marinette would remember that she hadn’t talked to Adrien since they were both still in middle school. Now, she’d survived her first year of university. There were so many high school stories that Marinette wished she could have shared with Adrien, but it seemed that he didn’t want to hear them. As much as Marinette didn’t want to admit it, Tikki was right. Adrien needed to be the one to initiate the conversation. That way, Marinette knew she wouldn’t be hurting him any more than she already had.
After moving on to high school, Marinette had still kept in touch with her friends from Francois DuPont. They’d spread out across different high schools in Paris, but Marinette knew that they were always a text or video call away. The only friend that she’d fallen out of contact with was Adrien. Had he deleted her number from his list of contacts?
There had been so many times when Marinette would look at her phone and think about going against her promise to not reach out to Adrien. She’d envision what would happen, how they would finally reconnect with each other. After she sent the message, Marinette would throw her phone across the bed, internally freaking out about sending a message to Adrien after so long. She would get a notification almost immediately and, after hesitating for a few minutes, would finally look at her phone and find a message from Adrien in which he would express how grateful he was that she’d messaged him and how much he’d missed talking with her.
It was a wonderful fantasy, but Marinette knew it would never happen. Instead, she found herself gravitating back to his many modeling projects that he was working on lately. Marinette made sure to buy every magazine, read and watch all of his interviews, and even view all of his advertisements. Though it wasn’t much, Marinette felt like she could at least continue to see what Adrien was doing and how he was spending his time since they last saw each other. In his pictures, Adrien looked happy but Marinette worried that it was just his model smile that he presented to the camera because that was what was required of him. Was he truly that glad without her in his life?
***
The summer before Marinette’s second year at the university of her dreams brought new adventures for her. In that summer, the Gabriel company opened up internship opportunities; it had been so long since they had taken on any interns. Marinette’s career ambitions had not changed and she still hoped to work for Gabriel someday. Interning would be the perfect opportunity to make some contacts…if she could get accepted. As expected, the internships were highly competitive and Marinette quickly found herself doubting her designing skills. Naturally, her friends encouraged her, reminding her constantly that her designs were definitely good enough and that she wouldn’t be laughed at for applying. The last time that Marinette had entered a contest headed by Gabriel Agreste she’d had the support of Adrien to keep her going when the doubt tried to cripple her.
She didn’t have Adrien’s support now, but somehow Marinette kept pushing forward on her designs to enter during the application process. As she finished the designs, Marinette was again feeling like backing out but Alya would not hear of it. Marinette’s best friend would not leave her alone until she’d submitted the application.
Then, began the the waiting, weeks of agonizing because Marinette knew that someone in the Gabriel company was looking over her work and finding every little fault.
Finally, several weeks later, Marinette received correspondence from the Gabriel company. She was so afraid to read it, but Alya, who’d been checking in everyday, agreed to come over and be there with her.
With her best friend by her side, Marinette opened the decision from Gabriel. Her eyes scanned over the words, taking them all in before cheering. “I was accepted into the internship!”
Alya’s cheers joined Marinette’s as the hugged each other, jumping up and down with joy. “I knew you could do it, Girl!”
It was still so hard to believe that she had been selected for the internship. Surely, there were so many other designers who were much more talented. Still, she knew not to question it and so Marinette looked ahead to everything that she would learn during her new internship.
***
It was inevitable that it would happen. During her internship, Marinette ran into Adrien (and that was literal). One afternoon, while rushing through the halls, Marinette ran right into someone. She could feel herself falling, but the other person was quick to grab her hand and help her to stand back up again,
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean—“
“It’s okay,” the other person told her and she recognized his voice just as he realized who exactly had run into him. “Marinette?”
Raising her head, Marinette looked at him for the first time in years. He’d changed a bit, but was still recognizable. “Adrien, uh, hi? I…didn’t expect to see you here.” Internally, she cringed. Well, that sounded dumb. This was his father’s company. Of course he could be here!
“Oh, uh, yeah, I had to stop by for a bit,” Adrien answered, running his hand down the back of his neck. “I see that you’re interning with the company.”
Marinette couldn’t deny the awkwardness of this reunion. Their friendship had always been a strange one, but it was even more so now, after all these years. “Yeah,” Marinette laughed a little nervously. “I was so surprised when I heard that I had been accepted. I mean, I figured that there were so many other designers more talented than me and…”
“Your designs have always been amazing, Marinette. I remember that from our time together in school.”
Marinette blushed at the compliment from Adrien. Maybe she never had actually moved past her crush on him. “Um, well, I know you’re probably busy right now,” Marinette said, “but maybe we could, I don’t know, get a coffee sometime, I mean…if you want to, that is.”
“Uh, yeah, coffee…that sounds like fun.”
They did a quick comparison of their schedules to determine a time that would work to meet up at a nearby coffee shop. Then, they parted ways. Marinette could only hope their get-together in a few days was less awkward than this unplanned meeting today.
***
As always, Marinette arrived fashionably late to the coffee shop. Adrien was already there and he offered her a stiff greeting. Marinette responded with a wave and an overly enthusiastic “Hi!” and, as she watched his face, Marinette couldn’t help but to wonder if he had been subconsciously hoping that she wouldn’t show up to their meeting.
“I can go order drinks, if you want,” Adrien spoke up. “What would you like?”
Marinette told Adrien her usually coffee preference and he rushed over to the counter to order. Again, she got the sense that he really wanted to be anywhere but here. However, just like during their years together in school, he was too nice to decline Marinette’s offer.
A few minutes later, Adrien returned with their drinks and a few desserts. For a few minutes, neither spoke. There was so much that Marinette wanted to say to Adrien, all the things that she’d wanted to tell him over the years, but now still didn’t seem like the right time. Finally, she couldn’t take the silence anymore. “I’m sorr—“
“Marinette, I—“
Of course they would decide to both start talking at the same time. They blinked at each other before they both started to laugh. After a quick back-and-forth of “You should speak first!” “No you!”, Marinette finally gave in. She took a deep breath before speaking quickly. “I’m sorry, Adrien. I know that my rejection hurt you and I never meant for it to affect our friendship this way. I just…” She looked down at the table and drew her finger across it. “This was a bad idea. I’m sorry. I can tell you don’t want to be here right now…with me and…” she felt Adrien reach across the table and place his hand gently onto top of hers.
“Marinette, I’m sorry too. I did feel really hurt and I never meant to completely cut off our friendship like I did.” Marinette looked up to meet Adrien’s eyes as he continued explaining. “At first, I just needed time and space to heal, but as the days passed, I found that I didn’t know how to approach you after so long. I tried talking to Nino, but I just didn’t know what to do. I guess I just figured you never wanted to hear from me again. I never got any messages from you but I knew you still talked with everyone and I saw you were still active on social media.”
Thinking about Adrien’s explanation, Marinette couldn’t believe that they had lost contact with each other because of a misunderstanding. They’d both been waiting for the other to reach out and initiate the conversation once again.
“So, you’re not upset to be here…having coffee with me right now?” Marinette asked.
Adrien smiled. “I can’t say that it isn’t a bit awkward, yeah,” he admitted, a slight blush covering his cheeks, “but I think our friendship has kind of always been that way. I am glad, though, because I really do want to be friends, Marinette…even if that’s all we’ll ever be.”
“So, we’re friends?”
“Of course.”
They spent the next hour and a half catching up with each other, sharing all that had happened in the five years since they’d last spoken. At first, it was still rather awkward, with a lot of nervous giggling and filler words. However, as time passed, Marinette and Adrien grew more comfortable with each other again and the conversation flowed more easily between them.
“So, yeah, I saw the internship at Gabriel and Alya practically forced me to apply even when I didn’t feel like my work would be nearly good enough…”
“Trust me,” Adrien laughed, “it was. You earned that internship, fair and square, Marinette!”
Marinette was about to respond, but then she thought about what Adrien had just said. How would he know anything about…? Then it all made sense. “You had something to do with me getting accepted, didn’t you?”
Adrien smirked. “I happened to be on the panel to judge applicants, yes.”
Marinette sighed. “So, that’s how I got accepted. That feels like cheating.”
“No, no, it wasn’t cheating!” Adrien replied quickly. “Believe me, you easily got my vote. No other designs could compare to yours. You’re my friend, but I would have made an honest decision based on the quality of the entries submitted and, like I said, it didn’t take much for me to choose yours.”
Marinette smiled. Even all those years ago when they attended school together, Adrien had always supported her, complimented her designs, and encouraged her. It was so uplifting to know that he was still doing the same, all these years later, even when it seemed like they weren’t friends anymore.
By the time that their food and drinks were finished, Marinette definitely felt that she and Adrien had become more comfortable with each other again. If they weren’t back to being friends yet, they would be soon enough. When they parted ways that evening, they both promised to stay in touch with each other this time.
Adrien gave a small wave and turned to walk away. Marinette watched him and, as he left, she felt a strange feeling stirring deep within herself. It was almost like…that day when he’d handed her his umbrella. Oh no, not again!
***
“Ah, what do I do, Tikki?” Marinette freaked out, pacing the floor of her bedroom that night. “I still have feelings for Cat Noir, even though he doesn’t feel the same way anymore, but now I think my feelings for Adrien have returned too! How can I be in love with two guys? What am I supposed to—ugh!” She plopped onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow. Why did everything always have to be so complicated?
“Maybe you should try going out with Adrien?” Tikki suggested. “You know for certain that he loved you.”
Marinette lifted her face out of her pillow. “What about Cat Noir, though? Am I just supposed to forget about my feelings for him?”
Tikki shrugged. “Everything will work out eventually.”
***
Marinette took some time to think over Tikki’s advice, but she trusted her kwami. Her friendship with Adrien improved over time and, towards the end of Marinette’s internship with Gabriel, they both felt comfortable enough again with each other to try having a relationship together.
It wasn’t easy because Marinette still had to keep secret from him that she was Ladybug, but she’d learned from her relationship with Luka. Besides, Adrien was patient, easily accepting all of Marinette’s strange quirks that came with being Ladybug. He never questioned her sudden exits or extended disappearances. Marinette knew she should probably address that with him, but she was just so happy that she didn’t have to explain herself.
One night, Marinette transformed and went out into Paris to get some fresh air. As she ran along the rooftops, Marinette saw Cat Noir sitting out by himself. She felt herself lose footing ever so slightly; she hadn’t expected to see him out tonight.
Cautiously, she made her way over to him, certain that he would make some excuse to leave once he saw her. “Um, hi, Cat Noir?” she greeted him.
Cat Noir’s head popped up and he looked back at her. Ladybug smiled and waved. “Ladybug, hey!” he greeted, jumping up to walk over to her. “How’s it going?”
Ladybug crossed her arms and tilted her head, eying her partner. This was not what she had expected. “Wait a minute, you disappear, insist on separate patrols, and just want to work solo as much as possible and then greet me with ‘How’s it going?’ Really, Cat?”
“Y-Yeah,” he replied, running his hand down the back of his neck. “I’m really sorry. Things were just…complicated then.”
“It was my fault, wasn’t it?” Ladybug asked him, looking down at her feet.
“Um, well, kind of, yeah,” he answered, his hand still running up and down the back of his neck. “It’s fine. The thing is that…the day you told me you loved me was the day that I told another girl that I loved her and it was just…a lot all at once.”
Ladybug was about to ask him about this other girl, but then she remembered what Cat Noir had said that night. “You said that you’d sworn off love, though. Your confession…didn’t go well?”
“No,” Cat Noir replied. “She didn’t love me.”
Ladybug’s heart hurt at the thought of another girl not loving her kitty the way that she did. “I’m so sorry, Cat Noir. I didn’t mean to make you feel worse that night.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t know, Ladybug,” Cat Noir replied. Then he smiled. “Besides, she’s actually my girlfriend now, so everything worked out anyway.”
Ladybug felt her heart twinge a little again. Why did it hurt to hear that Cat Noir had a girlfriend? She was dating Adrien! “That must’ve been quite a story!” she replied with a nervous laugh, hoping that Cat Noir couldn’t read her disappointment in her voice.
“Oh, yeah,” Cat Noir replied with another laugh. “We lost contact for awhile, but recently met back up and everything just kind of fell into place, you know.”
“Yeah,” Ladybug answered, realizing that his story sounded a bit familiar. It was almost like…her and Adrien.
“Oh, hey, how did things turn out with your other guy?” Cat Noir asked.
Ladybug laugh. “Him, well…I’m dating him now.”
“That’s great! I’m happy for you, Ladybug!” Cat Noir replied and Ladybug noticed that there was nothing forced about his words. He genuinely meant this; he really had moved on from her.
“Well, um, I should probably be heading home. It’s getting late. See you soon, Cat Noir?”
“Yeah!” he answered. “I’d love to be partners again. We should definitely schedule some patrols together.”
Ladybug nodded. “I’ll, uh, check my schedule and get back to you, okay?” Without waiting for his response, Ladybug left to return back to her house.
Her heart twinged within her chest and Ladybug didn’t understand why she couldn’t bring herself to be happy for Cat Noir. Was she jealous that he had found a girl that he loved? Why did she feel that way? She was dating Adrien, like she’d always wanted. So, why did it hurt so much?
***
Finally, it was over! Ladybug and Cat Noir had successfully beaten Monarch and reclaimed all the lost Miraculous, including the Butterfly and Peacock.
Ladybug couldn’t be happier. Up until now, she’d only imagined this day and now she couldn’t stop smiling. One thought played in the back of her mind, though: her boyfriend. Adrien was going to be crushed when he learned this truth. She made a mental note to check on him later.
Cat Noir, she noticed, was not nearly as happy about their victory. He put on an act for the press, pretending to be joyful that they had succeeded and brought Monarch to justice. However, Ladybug had known Cat Noir long enough to see through and recognize his emotions that he pushed aside.
As soon as she could, Ladybug dragged Cat Noir to a secluded rooftop. “Is everything okay? I could tell that you were upset.” She watched Cat Noir’s face and saw that he seemed to be contemplating what to say.
“You’re right. I’m not entirely happy about what happened today.”
“I don’t understand. We succeeded. Paris is free. No one else will be akumatized. Why aren’t—?”
“He’s my father, Ladybug. Monarch was my father.”
This was not what Ladybug had expected to hear. Never could she ever imagined that Cat Noir would be…
“Adrien!?”
Cat Noir nodded and Ladybug could see the tears in his eyes. “Everyone’s going to think differently of me now….and, Marinette, she’s going to hate me…”
“Marinette could never hate you, Kitten.”
“You can’t be sure of that Ladybug. She…”
“Doesn’t hate you! I don’t hate you, Adrien. This wasn’t your fault.”
Cat Noir looked up to meet her eyes. “Marinette?”
Ladybug nodded. “I’m here for you. I promise.” She hugged her boyfriend and smiled through tears as he returned it, hanging on tight like she was his life line.
“You and me against the world, M’lady?” he asked, his voice still a bit shaky.
Ladybug nodded into Cat Noir’s shoulder. “As always, Kitten. As always.”