Originally Posted: 03/23/16
Enemies AU Part 5
~*~
Adrien is embarrassed.
He doesn’t mind hiding out at Chloe’s; he’s known her forever. But this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. His classmate. A girl he isn’t very well acquainted with. And she’s friends with Ladybug.
If the situation is as awkward for her as it is for him, she doesn’t show it. She lets him into her large bedroom and launches into an animated account of how Ladybug is a regular customer at the bakery, but it’s a big secret. Hush-hush. Don’t tell anyone. She climbs down the ladder of her loft–a loft!–and shows him to a comfortable chaise lounge, promising she’ll wake him up before sunrise so he can sneak away.
He doesn’t say much. The shock of the night is still fresh and his body feels heavy. Even after Marinette goes to bed, he lays on his side and stares at her furniture, thinking of his father.
He wonders if he’s lonely.
~
The next day, Nathalie is waiting for him outside the school. Chloe is latched onto his arm as always, and he senses the way her muscles tense, the way she instinctively pulls him closer.
Nathalie holds a suitcase out to Adrien. “You need clean clothes,” she says, as if it’s all that needs to be said.
He hesitates, then takes it. For the space of a moment he sees concern, sorrow, and care in his father’s secretary’s eyes. Then she smothers it and turns away, walking back to the car that waits for her on the curb.
~
At the end of the week, Ladybug holds a press conference to alert Paris that Chat Noir is no longer a threat. He was manipulated by Hawk Moth and coerced into his service. To atone for his crimes, he will now be fighting alongside her.
Not everyone is pleased about this. Some even suspect that Ladybug has become a villain, too.
But Alya has faith in them. “If Ladybug says he’s a good guy, then he’s a good guy,” she declares with the utmost confidence. In the row ahead of her, Adrien smiles.
Chat Noir saves Alya from an akuma victim the next day. She dedicates an entire Ladyblog post to him.
~
His entire routine changes. Days at school. Afternoons at Le Grand Paris with Chloe. Evenings patrolling the city with Ladybug. Nights carrying hushed conversations with Marinette about nothing in particular until they’re too sleepy to go on.
But it’s not just his routine that changes. He embraces the superhero role, saves Paris as if he were born to do it. He cracks jokes and makes a game of trying to fit as many cat puns as he can into a single fight. One evening, sitting on a rooftop with Ladybug, he laughs so hard that he surprises both of them.
“I haven’t laughed like that in years,” he says, his green eyes glowing with pleasure.
Ladybug never complains about his jokes again.
~
When Adrien starts greeting her in the morning, Marinette is equal parts confused and suspicious.
“I know he hangs with Chloe, but he’s not a bad guy,” Nino assures her. “Just shy and terrible at making friends. We totally misjudged him.”
The next day, Marinette returns Adrien’s greeting. He looks so happy that from then on, she makes sure to greet him first.
~
Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug.
He makes no secret of it. Marinette is a little embarrassed listening to him go on and on about how amazing his Lady is, but his joy is infectious, so she doesn’t stop him.
Meanwhile, she’s been spending time with Adrien. He joins her group of friends and seems to be coming out of his shell. The more she sees of him, the more she thinks she likes him, until one rainy day he awkwardly offers her his only umbrella and she realizes it’s not a maybe anymore. She likes him. A lot.
When she confesses this to Chat, he is the picture of surprise. “What’s so great about him?” he asks.
Marinette shrugs. “I had a bad first impression of him, but now that I see what he’s really like…” She feels the warmth spread across her cheeks in the darkness. “He’s just so nice. Even though his home life is rough, he never takes it out on anyone. He’s shy, but you can tell he’s a genuinely good person.” She shrugs again. “And I like him.”
Chat is oddly subdued after that, which is fine with her. She’s too embarrassed to keep talking.
~
On weekends, Marinette lets Chat have her bed. He feels horrible about it. Tries to insist he doesn’t want it, but he’s not fooling anyone. The chaise is nice. The bed is better.
One night, they’re simply too tired to argue, so Marinette crawls into the bed with him. He’s stunned speechless. That he manages to fall asleep at all is a testament to his exhaustion.
He wakes up early the next morning and finds his nose buried in someone’s black hair. He’s confused and disoriented. “Ladybug?”
“Mm.”
Why is he in bed with Ladybug? Isn’t this Marinette’s room? “My Lady?”
“Mm.” A little louder this time. She’s still asleep, but no, this is definitely Marinette. She’s wearing Marinette’s clothes.
“Marinette.”
This time, she wakes up. “What is it, Chat?”
“It’s morning,” he says.
She mumbles something along the lines of “see you later” and he carefully extracts himself from her. But he hesitates. He stays. He stares at the girl who is Marinette–without a doubt, she is Marinette Dupain-Cheng–but all he sees is Ladybug. He can’t believe he never saw it before.
Marinette is Ladybug.
~
And he’s in love with her.
He can’t keep it off his face. He’s sure that the whole class has figured it out by the way he looks at her, the way he smiles at her, the way he says her name, the way he finds every excuse to turn around and talk to her.
She must know, too. She becomes increasingly flustered around him. She stops mentioning Adrien to Chat. Even as Ladybug she develops a tendency to come over distracted.
Then one day, she confides in him that she’s working on a birthday present for Adrien. She won’t show him what it is no matter how much he begs.
“What if he doesn’t like it?” she whispers to him as they sit on her bed in the dark.
Chat gives her the cattiest grin he can muster. “Don’t worry,” he says, “whatever it is, he’s going to love it.”
~
On Adrien’s birthday, Marinette arrives at school early for once. She holds the wrapped gift in shaking hands. She knows he gets there before anyone else, and often studies in the empty classroom, so she hopes he’ll be alone now. To give him a handmade present in front of everyone else… she’s sure she’d die of the embarrassment.
She walks into the classroom. Adrien stands by the windows with his back turned to her and Marinette slows to a stop.
Not because she’s nervous, but because there is something so striking about his back.
She’s sure she’s seen it before on someone else.
She’s sure she’s leaned against it a hundred times in the privacy of her bedroom.
When he turns to look at her, a gentle smile lights up his face.
And she knows.
She crosses the room on weak legs. She leaves the gift on Sabrina’s desk. Her shaking hands reach out for him, and he doesn’t flinch when she lays them on either side of his face. “Chat?” she whispers.
He tilts his head in the most innocent and familiar of ways. “Yes, My Lady?”
Marinette kisses him.
It isn’t a very graceful kiss. He’s caught off guard and she’s never kissed anyone before. But when she pulls away, he immediately draws her back in, and when he kisses her she has just enough wits left to figure out how to kiss him back.
“Chaton,” she murmurs as he nuzzles her cheek. Her heart pounds in her rib cage and she can feel his smile against her skin. A thought occurs to her then, and she whacks him in the chest. “You knew?”
He won’t stop smiling at her. “Only for a couple of weeks.”
Marinette squeaks. She wants to be furious, but damn it all, he looks so happy and how could she ever be mad about that? “Stop smiling!” she practically begs.
“I can’t!” he cries, and wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her two feet off the floor. “It’s my birthday, and you’re Ladybug, and I’m so in love with you I don’t know what to do with myself!”
“Adrien!” Her face can’t possibly get any redder.
He puts her down, exhilarated, glowing. He cups her face and gives her such a look that she feels fire eating away at her insides. “I love you,” he says.
Marinette ducks her head and burrows into his chest. “I love you too.”
“And I’ve been dying to tell you”–his voice breaks–“how grateful I am.” He wraps his arms around her and holds her tight, holds her as if he never wants to let go. “You saved me,” he says, and Marinette’s eyes overflow with tears. “Thank you for saving me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
They stay like that for a long time, separating only when Max walks into the room, stammers, apologizes, and walks back out.
They laugh as Marinette finally gives him her gift: a light blue scarf that he puts on immediately, even though it’s warm in the classroom.
By the time everyone else shows up, it’s obvious that Max has blabbed. The happy couple doesn’t get a moment’s peace for the rest of the day. But they can’t complain. They’ll have all evening to talk–and kiss–in private.
~
Hawk Moth is still on the loose. Adrien doesn’t want to face his father yet, and Marinette doesn’t press him. As Ladybug and Chat Noir, they continue to defend Paris, overcoming every obstacle thrown their way.
The city erects a statue in their honor. Within months it seems no one remembers those bygone days where the Miraculous duo stood against each other instead of together.
One evening, after a particularly difficult battle, Chat stands and watches the purified butterfly fly away, shrinking until it resembles one of the stars dotting the sunset sky. Ladybug’s hand slips into his and threads their fingers together. “Are you okay?” she asks.
Chat, who’s gotten a little taller lately, looks down at her and smiles. “Yeah,” he says, leaning over to rest his forehead against hers. “Never better.”
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