Chapter Text
“You cannot be serious,” she whispers, staring down at herself. At the puddle of weird goo covering her feet and still clinging to her suit. She makes a face, but trying to wipe it off only results in more of this stuff sticking to her fingers. With a sound, she shakes her whole body. “Do you think Hawk Moth knows the definition of sleep? What is he, nocturnal?”
Chat Noir tilts his head at her. His hair is full of the same green goo. It’s a crime how he manages to look kind of handsome despite this. Not that she would ever actively think Chat is handsome. Nope, not her. “Well, moths are nocturnal, so …”
“You’re so helpful.”
“Thank you, my lady.” He slides closer, his goo-covered arm touching hers. “I must say, I feel oddly glued to you tonight.”
She stares at him. He grins back at her.
“So funny,” she sighs, and tosses her Lucky Charm into the air. Numerous magical ladybugs free her from her layer of slime. She exhales in relief, looking down at herself, then catching Chat’s eyes on her.
“And once again, as beautiful as always.”
She doesn’t let her cheeks turn hot. There would be no reason for such, anyway. Automatically, she lifts her hand to pound her fist against his. “And with all that icky goo, I wasn’t? That’s shattering.”
“Oh, no, don’t you worry. My eyes are always glued to you, bugaboo.”
Again, she stares at him. Again, he grins back at her.
The guy having been akumatized has sunk to his knees, his face a mask of confusion. “Ladybug? What’s going on?”
“You basically wanted to cover the whole city in icky slime.” Chat gives him a look. “Jell-O? Would have been so understandable. But some unidentifiable goo? Eh, questionable.”
“Sounds gross,” the guy says, turning his nose up.
“Can confirm, was gross,” Ladybug returns, patting his shoulder. “But no worries, that’s what we are here for. Sacrificing sleep for the greater goo. I mean, good.” She returns Chat’s glowing grin with one of her own.
The guy ducks his head. “Sorry.”
“I was just kidding. Really, no problem.”
They look after him as he hurries away. A sewage worker getting fed up with his, and she quotes, “stinky work atmosphere”. Well, understandable, at least.
“Okay. Gotta go.” She groans as she leans her head back for a moment. “Or else my parents are going to …” When she realizes she is giving him a tidbit of info that probably shouldn’t reach his ears, she interrupts herself quickly. “Uh, I mean … You know. A snuggly, warm bed is waiting for me at home.”
“Out on a curfew, huh?”
Paris’s streets at night are calm, only dotted by the occasional group of drunk people or passersby heading home hastily. She takes a step back, actually thankful for the beep her Miraculous gives. “Well, you know. Who isn’t! Curfews, shmurfews, all that stuff.”
“I’m not.” He shrugs. “Bet you my fa- a – all the people at home wouldn’t even notice I’m gone.”
“Lucky you,” she sighs. “My parents would flip if they knew I’m not where I should be. Especially on a school night.”
“Lucky me?” He gives her a skeptical look. “Lucky you, rather. Your parents just care about you, you know.”
Okay. And getting into dangerous territories. She wants to change the topic, but the urgent beep ringing through the air is more than enough a distraction. “I care about you, too,” she tells him, a tiny smile on her lips. “Good night, kitty.”
The words make him grin all over his face. It’s cute, she allows herself to think. “Good night, LB.”
It doesn’t take long until she’s at her balcony, Tikki floating into her open hands as she nibbles on a cookie. Marinette stifles a yawn, her sight becoming blurrier the more pressing the tiredness becomes. It’s a bit cold in her pajamas as she is standing outside. “Maybe Hawk Moth can’t sleep lately,” she mutters while opening her skylight. “Doesn’t mean he has to take it out on us, though. Ugh, what even is his evil plan? Make my grades drop until I can’t graduate? Force me to become poor and homeless?”
Tikki blinks at her heavily. “I’m pretty sure that isn’t his plan.”
“How can you tell? He’s totally doing this on purpose!”
“Maybe he wants to deprive you of sleep?” With a thoughtful hum, Tikki floats upwards. “Or maybe, he is just bored?”
Marinette wants to reply with one eyebrow raised, but a sudden sound makes her pause. It’s coming from the trapdoor. It takes her some time to recognize her parents’ voices behind it, and she carefully opens the lid to hear more of their conversation.
“… in a row, Tom! What else could be the reason?”
“We were both young once. It’s a normal phase.”
“Stop pretending everything is fine! It’s three a.m. – she could do god knows what! And with the wrong crowd …”
“Look. Even if we call the police, they won’t start looking for her until at least twenty-four hours have passed. She will turn up again, I’m sure.”
Oh. Shoot, shoot. Marinette tosses Tikki a panicked glance before she quickly descends the stairs. “Mom? Dad?” she calls, heart racing as both her parents turn to her. Shame fills her from head to toe when she sees her mother’s bloodshot eyes, the lines of worry covering her dad’s forehead.
“Where were you?” Sabine’s voice is meek and quiet, and she presses a hand against her mouth. “Oh god, Marinette, we were – oh god …” With a little sound, she steps up to Marinette, hugging her so tightly she is hardly getting any air. Helplessly, she pats her mom’s back, unable to meet Tom’s eyes in the process.
“Why aren’t you both asleep?” Marinette whispers. Her thoughts are racing as she tries to come up with an excuse. Just anything. She gulps. “I was – I was just on the balcony. Fell asleep on there, uh, you know.”
“Marinette. You weren’t.”
Her mother is still hugging her, but the sharpness in Tom’s voice makes Marinette wince. Just when she is about to hide her face by burying it in her mom’s hair, Sabine steps away again, crossing her arms. An icily cold feeling surges through Marinette, leaving her feeling small and helpless.
“It’s the third time this week you weren’t in your bed when we went to check up on you,” Sabine says, the quiver in her voice carefully hidden behind a mostly calm exterior. “We waited for you to come clean by yourself, but this is the first time you weren’t home until two a.m. We were worried sick about you.”
Oh god. Marinette searches for words. She didn’t even know she was being checked on. It’s getting harder to breathe, and she can only stare as her parents’ eyes harden.
“We love you, Marinette,” Tom tells her, concern and tiredness battling in his voice. “But we’re your parents. We’re responsible for you, and we have to know what you are doing. We have to have trust in you. So, where were you in the middle of the night?”
“I …” She swallows. “Uh …”
Sabine massages the bridge of the nose. “Breathe on me.”
“W-what?”
“I want to know what your breath smells like.”
Marinette feels all blood leave her cheeks. “Really? You think …?”
“We were sixteen once too, Marinette. And I, too, wasn’t always too fond of my home.” Tom’s voice is soft, but decisive. “No matter how much we’re trying to make this a comfortable place for you. In the end, you’re still a teenager.”
“And it would be okay. If you were just honest with us.” Sabine comes a bit closer. “Now, breathe.”
It’s humiliating. It really is. Her stomach is churning as she does as she is told, and Sabine wrinkles her forehead, leaning back again.
“Either you’ve found some great chewing gum, or you just sat on the sidelines.”
“Mom,” Marinette mumbles. “I did not sneak out to go to a party. I promise I didn’t.”
Tom draws his eyebrows together. “What did you do then?”
“You didn’t even come in through the front door!” Sabine shakes her head, her eyes piercing Marinette’s. “Did you – you climbed out of your window, didn’t you? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
Anything. Come on, brain, anything. Marinette bites her tongue, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She was at Alya’s? No, her mom would surely call Alya’s mom. At Nino’s? Same difference. At Kagami’s? Miss Tsurugi would flip. At Luka’s? Sure thing. God damn it. She has no idea what to do.
Tom closes his eyes. His apparent disappointment hurts more than any words ever could. “All right, Marinette. We’re all too tired to have a proper talk right now. Go to sleep. We’ll sit down together tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles.
Sabine sighs. “Good night, dear,” she returns before turning to the bedroom.
Marinette’s heart is still racing like crazy when she snuggles up in her bed. Just like that, all her tiredness is gone. She drags a hand over her face, letting loose a deep sigh as she hears Tikki land on the pillow next to her head. “I really messed up this time, didn’t I?”
“There must be something you can tell them,” Tikki thinks out loud.
“If Master Fu was still here …” But he isn’t, and there is nothing coming to mind. She can’t just say she is constantly at a friend’s place when her parents know every single one of them. They could easily ask if Marinette is telling the truth, and even if they would cover for her, her friends would wonder what is going on, and then she’d have to lie yet again. Lie after lie after lie. Sometimes she thinks her responsibilities as Ladybug are way too much for one person alone. She’d need a copy of herself. Or several ones, rather. Chat Noir wouldn’t be too opposed to that, she bets.
She sighs again.
“I’ll have to come up with something, at least.” Her mind is racing as she turns on her back, staring at the ceiling. “It won’t be the last time Hawk Moth decides to akumatize someone in the middle of the night. And it won’t be the last time my parents check up on me.”
“You could tell them you’re sleepwalking?”
Marinette snorts. “I bet they discovered my substitute puppet already.”
“Or … or maybe you were caught by every akuma that appeared?”
“Even the one who just covered everything in the open street in slime? What, the villain abducted me because I looked like the perfect goo bait?”
Tikki exhales audibly. “Sorry, Marinette. This isn’t easy. Parenting methods sure have changed since the 19th century.”
“Was it easier back then?”
“Well, yes and no. Girls your age usually left home or were considered mature enough anyway, so there was nothing much to worry about.” Tikki hums. “One of my girls was accused of cheating on her husband because he caught her sneaking out once, though.”
“Okay?” Marinette props her head on her hand, looking at Tikki. “What happened then?”
“Divorce back then was a much bigger deal than now. So they made an agreement: my girl was allowed to go out at night if he was allowed to have lovers for himself.” Tikki makes a face. “I think this would be deemed unacceptable nowadays, right? Well, it was deemed unacceptable back then, too, so …”
“They … they cheated on each other with each other’s permission?”
“Well … Plagg did tell me once there is a term for that. Swinging?”
“Do I – do I want to google that?”
“Marinette. I’m just as out of my depth as you are on this one, so knowing which results ‘googling something’ could bare, I would say no.”
Marinette has to smile. “Plagg knows a lot more of some things than you do, huh?”
“He knows a lot more about unnecessary things.” Tikki rolls her eyes. “Then again, he loves to make fun of people much more than he wants to understand them.”
“Contrary to you.”
“Well, yes. Humans are interesting.” She taps Marinette’s nose softly. “And some of them are especially lovely.”
Marinette’s smile grows. “Don’t tell Plagg, but I’m very, very glad you are my kwami, and no one else.”
“And I’m glad you are my chosen, and no one else.”
At least that can calm her heart, and Marinette tries to ignore the bad feeling still lingering in her stomach.
Adrien taps against his chin. “So, so,” he tells her. “Sneaking out at night, are you?”
“Me? Sneaking?” Marinette returns very innocently, one leg already swung out of the window, her words totally void of any guilt whatsoever. “No! Never.”
“Ah. What were you doing then?”
“Enjoying the nightly view. Duh.”
Adrien nods, entirely convinced. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you’re meeting someone. At night.”
“Who would I meet?” She laughs loudly and shrilly. “Chat Noir? Ha! You must be kidding!”
Something flashes through Adrien’s eyes. “Oh, my dearest love. There’s nothing you can hide from me and my exceptional thinking skills.”
She freezes. Almost loses her balance and falls straight out the window. “I’m not cheating on you with Chat Noir!”
“Oh. As long as it’s Chat Noir, I don’t mind.”
She stares. Her mouth drops open. “Adrien – what? Are we …”
“Swinging? Yes.”
“But – but I never googled it? I don’t even know what swinging means!”
“Now you do.”
“Adrien, I – not Chat Noir! No, not Chat! Why Chat?”
“Girl, do you want to tell me why you keep repeating Chat Noir’s name?”
That’s odd. Alya’s voice, but no Alya to accompany it. Marinette looks around, entirely confused, until another voice suddenly joins Alya’s, way louder and way more piercing.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng! If you find my classes that sleep-inducing, I expect you to know the contents well enough already!”
Marinette’s whole body startles. Her head shoots up, and with her sight blurry, she can’t even look Ms. Mendeleiev in the eye properly. She is vaguely aware of Alya’s hand on her shoulder. She’s vaguely aware of the whole class staring at her, too.
Oh. This could be bad.
“I,” she tries. “I – do?”
Ms. Mendeleiev narrows her eyes at her. “Very well, then. Let’s see how well you do. What do you get if you mix an acid and a base, as I have just told the class mere ten minutes ago?”
Marinette blinks a few times. Alya’s hissed words are barely audible, and Ms. Mendeleiev shoots her a sharp look, shutting her up effectively. Marinette’s sluggish brain tries to come up with an answer. She helplessly looks around, eyes landing on Adrien. Memories of her dream resurface, and she feels her cheek turn hot as his lips keep moving. Fold? Fault? Sold?
“Salt,” she repeats slowly. Adrien nods excitedly, forming another word. Marinette squints. “And. Water.”
“Very good. I’m glad Adrien was able to pass on the correct answers.” Ms. Mendeleiev raises an eyebrow at Adrien, then Marinette. He ducks his head, cheeks red as he turns away again. “Maybe you should prioritize sleep instead of whatever else you’re doing at night, Marinette.”
Suppressed laughter from some rows. Ms. Mendeleiev seems to have caught her mistake, and she actually turns a bit purple as she whirls around again.
“Quiet! Your preadolescent humor isn’t needed in here!”
Great. And another adult thinking she is being an irresponsible teenager, doing god knows what instead of focusing on her duties. But she knows better than to protest, and her lips form a thin line as she responds. “I’m sorry, Ms. Mendeleiev.”
The class doesn’t seem to find an end, though. Marinette desperately tries to keep her eyes open, but every time she as much as blinks, her mind almost slips away and her head droops to the side. Alya pokes her several times, worry shining in her eyes. Ms. Mendeleiev doesn’t seem too happy either; she asks Marinette two additional questions, and Marinette of course falters every time. She doesn’t even think about the fact that she’ll need to save her chemistry grade somehow. First, she has to stop falling asleep every other second.
She almost cries in relief when the bell finally rings for their lunch break. Alya leans closer in an instant. “Girl, this is getting worrisome. It’s the third time this week you’re falling asleep during classes!”
“I’m not sleeping well,” Marinette mumbles, massaging the bridge of her nose.
“Yes, I can see that. Something wrong?”
Several things are wrong. Most of all Hawk Moth’s constant nightly attacks. Maybe that really is part of some elaborate plan. Wanting to deprive Chat Noir and her of all sleep. She is just about to calm Alya down when another voice joins them – Ms. Mendeleiev, having come to a halt right next to Marinette’s seat.
“Marinette,” she says, her voice devoid of any emotion. “May I have a word with you?”
Panic seethes inside Marinette’s stomach, but there is no way for her to say no, is there? So she resigns herself to her fate and stands up. “Yes. Of course.”
Alya shoots her another worried look, and Marinette tries to smile as her classmates leave the room, leaving her alone with Ms. Mendeleiev. It takes some time until she gestures for Marinette to sit down again, and Ms. Mendeleiev moves next to Marinette, clasping her hands on the desk.
“I’m worried about you,” she starts. Marinette almost jumps out of her skin at those words alone. “You are always tired in classes. Your participation in class is lacking. Even though you pass your tests without exception, it seems that you are not doing well.” The warmth in Ms. Mendeleiev’s eyes is somehow unfamiliar. “I’m just your teacher, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. Is your home life okay? Is there something you want to talk about?”
This is getting ridiculous. And sad. After all, she can’t just come out with the truth, can she? Until then, will people just continue worrying?
It takes seconds until Marinette manages to smile. It hurts on her face. “No, everything is fine. I’m just not getting enough sleep, that’s all. I’m really sorry, Ms. Mendeleiev. I know I should pay more attention, and … Yeah, I know I’m not … I’m sorry.”
“No need to be sorry.” Ms. Mendeleiev adjusts her glasses. “We do have a school psychologist too. Whenever you feel like it, please go to her.” A second of silence. “I would hate to give you a bad grade. Because I know that you can do so much better than you’re doing now. You understand, right?”
“I do,” Marinette mumbles, resisting the urge to avert her gaze.
“And after careful consideration with Ms. Bustier, we decided to contact your parents.”
No. Please, no. Marinette’s eyes grow wide as she searches for words. “You don’t – you really don’t need to. Really. There’s just … I promise I will do better. Just don’t call in my parents. Please.”
Ms. Mendeleiev pauses. The shimmer of compassion in her eyes does nothing to calm Marinette down. “We are concerned about you. That is all. We just want to get behind what is causing you to be that distracted.”
“But that has nothing to do with my parents!”
“I’m sorry, Marinette, but –”
“Please.” She almost lunches forward to desperately grab her teacher’s shoulders, but thinks better of it. “I don’t want to disappoint them. Please! I promise I will pay more attention in class, I promise!”
Ms. Mendeleiev sighs deeply. “Look … I will talk to Ms. Bustier again. But if this goes on for any longer, we will have to talk to your parents.”
“Thank you.” She almost starts to cry as she clasps her hands in front of her face. “I promise. It won’t happen again, I really promise.”
With a last look, Ms. Mendeleiev stands up again, her voice softer than Marinette is used to. “You are a smart girl, Marinette. I would hate to see all your potential getting wasted just like that.”
When she leaves the classroom, Marinette needs a moment to slump down in her seat and breathe. Just breathe for a second. Her head is a mess, and she almost feels like crying when she sees Alya hurrying into the classroom again, not hesitating one second before sliding in next to Marinette and slinging an arm around her shoulders.
“Everything all right? Don’t tell me Mendeleiev will make you fail?”
“No, no,” Marinette mumbles. “She told me she thinks about calling my parents, though.”
“Oh, girl. Shoot.” Rubbing her shoulder, Alya leans her cheek against the top of her head. “But seriously, is there more to it? Just sleeping unwell? You didn’t even seem that distracted when you broke up with Luka.”
There it is. The moment she has to lie. It’s tiring, so tiring, but she doesn’t have a choice. “No,” she therefore mutters. “It’s just that. Maybe I should just get more sleep, huh?”
“Or dream less about Chat Noir.”
Marinette snorts. “I had the weirdest dream ever.”
Wiggling her eyebrows, Alya backs away a bit. “Pray tell.”
“I was cheating on Adrien with Chat Noir. And he was totally okay with it!”
Laughing, Alya lightly hits Marinette’s shoulder. “No! Knew you had it in you. So, totally crushing on our sunshine boy again?”
“Sure thing.” Marinette shrugs, hiding whatever emotion must show on her face. “If I did, I’d have to challenge Kagami herself to a deadly fencing bout.”
“And she’d beat your butt, you think?”
“She’d make mincemeat out of me. Within thirty seconds max. Not really up for ending up as beef tartare.”
“Hey.” Alya wiggles her eyebrows again as both of them stand up, heading for the door. “They are not together yet. So you still have a chance.”
“They’ve been dancing around each other for weeks. Again,” Marinette sighs. “I’m slowly starting to think someone will have to give Adrien a hard push.”
And that would be easier for her, too.
“If you start playing matchmaking with those two, I’m officially diagnosing you with dangerous sleep deprivation.”
Marinette grins. “Very funny.”
“Hey there, pretty boy.”
Adrien blinks. That’s Ladybug. Ladybug, casually sitting on his bed, her legs crossed and her hand playing with a strand of her hair. He stares at her, entirely unable to move, his mouth hanging open.
“Just gonna stare all day?”
“I,” he tries. “Uh. Wuagh. Gagh.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Is that a no? Or a yes?”
“A definite yes,” another voice chimes in, cold and emotionless. “You know what he did with me for half a year? Exactly, nothing.”
Adrien whirls his head around. There she is, sitting on his couch, her eyes trained on a book. Kagami, as calm as she always is.
“Ah,” Ladybug returns. “That’s too bad. What do they call that? Oh, yeah, I remember. Indecisive.”
He tries to talk again, and finds that he literally can’t form a single word. They all get stuck on his tongue and tumble over his lips in jumbled syllables. He puts a hand on his throat, but it doesn’t help, and looking at Ladybug cluelessly just makes her roll her eyes.
“Okay, well. Think I’ll have to find another pretty boy, then.”
Kagami doesn’t look up from her book. “Or a pretty girl.”
“Right! Right. Well, Ryuuko. Maybe you would know where to find one?”
Adrien blinks. He feels a bit like an intruder as Kagami finally raises her eyes to find Ladybug’s. A little smile plays around her lips. That kind of smile she only gives Adrien when she is especially pleased by something he did. “Looking at a mirror would suffice.”
“Bold.” With a giggle, Ladybug saunters towards the couch. Adrien’s feeling of being out of place is quickly replaced by disbelief. Then excitement. No, mostly disbelief. Yeah, totally, absolutely. “I like that. Maybe I should give you a little thank-you gift?”
“Depends. What kind of gift were you thinking about?”
“The long and loving kind of gift.”
Adrien can only stare. Even if he was able to, not a single word would probably leave his lips. He watches intently as Kagami puts her book away, as Ladybug grins with her pretty lips while she leans towards the other girl, as their faces tilt until –
“Dude, you’re drooling all over your book.”
The image shifts, wafting away in a matter of seconds. “No,” Adrien whines. “Just one second. Just a bit …”
“Dude, seriously. Know your dad could probably get you fifty more of ’em, but we need that page for our project, and as much as I love you, I can do without your droolage.”
“What?” Only slowly, Adrien manages to open his eyes. Nino’s face greets him. With a groan, Adrien rubs his eyes, slowly attempting to sit up. “Sorry. Ugh. I didn’t even notice I was falling asleep.”
Nino raises his eyebrows at him. “Dude. The hell are you doing at night?”
Adrien jerks. “Nothing! I mean sleeping, that’s all!”
“Yeah. Totally a coincidence that Marinette is falling asleep every other second, too.”
Adrien blinks heavily. “Nino. What exactly are you implying?”
“Dude, just kidding.” With a laugh, Nino pats his shoulder. “Then what are you doing, though?”
Adrien clears his throat. “Not sleeping well, I guess.”
A second of silence. “So, Kagami …?”
“Kagami what?”
“You know, dude.” When Adrien still stares at him in confusion, Nino grins. “You know! Visits you at midnight hours? Gets busy with you in the late evening? Doesn’t let you sleep at all? Has some tasty midnight snacks with you?”
“Nino! Gross!” In a matter of seconds, Adrien is wide awake. “We’re friends! You know we are. We just –”
A number of hushes shut him up. The whole library seems to stare at them. Adrien ducks his head, mumbling an apology that nobody can hear. With an amused grin, Nino lowers his voice, too.
“Okay, okay. So all the looks I see are just my imagination.”
“Nino –”
“I’m just kidding, bro. But really,” Nino whispers, “no feelings whatsoever? Nothing? Nada?”
It’s complicated. Kagami is wonderful, and more than Adrien even deserves – but the memories still sit in his mind. He hurt her. He hurt her way too much. It wasn’t fair, and he’s thankful she was even willing to stay his friend, even though it took an eternity to be where they are now.
He can’t destroy that much. Again.
Raking a hand through his hair, he sighs. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Maybe it’s better to keep it like it is now.”
“Yeah. Just wait for the moment she asks ya out because it took you way too long.”
Adrien wants to snort, but he is interrupted by the buzz of his phone. He takes a quick glance at it. “Speaking of the devil,” he mumbles.
“Already calling her a devil.” Nino hits his shoulder lightly. “Girlfriend material, I’m telling you.”
Adrien rolls his eyes, cheeks heating up even more. “She really is girlfriend material.”
“See, dude! Just do it, then! Stop overthinking every single crap and –”
Another round of hushes. Nino clears his throat, mumbling a “sorry” before shrugging. With a tiny chuckle, Adrien looks back at his phone.
Would you have some time for a coffee? My classes just ended.
Oh, and how he needs coffee. He shows Nino the message, raising his eyebrows. “You okay with doing the first half? Promise I’ll do the rest.”
“Sure thing, bro.” Nino pats his shoulder as Adrien is typing in a reply. “Go get her, tiger.”
“I won’t … No.”
“Jeez. Guess you’ll need ten more years to finally ask her out again, huh?”
Swinging his bag over his shoulders, Adrien grins at him. “I’d say twelve.”
“Ha ha, dude.”
Kagami is waiting for him in the main hall. His heart does a funny jump when he sees her, and he can’t smother a smile as he presses a kiss against her cheek. She smells like cherries and the faintest bit of perfume.
“You look tired,” she tells him as she looks up at him, auburn eyes catching his. “As you have for the past two weeks already. Is everything okay?”
Adrien almost sighs. Of course Kagami is that perceptive. Hawk Moth really likes to bug his lady and him to no end, it seems, and lately, he prefers late nights. Luckily for him, Nathalie only draws up an eyebrow whenever he asks her for extra strong espressos or caffeine pills, and his afternoons are spent with naps whenever he can. After all, nobody notices the difference between someone playing the piano in his room or someone playing the piano on YouTube.
Before he can be questioned any further, he slings an arm around Kagami’s shoulders and presses her closer. “Don’t worry. Haven’t been catching enough sleep lately, but it’s not too bad.”
“Sleep is important. Please don’t neglect your health, Adrien.”
“I would never.” He smiles at her. “Or maybe I’d need someone to take care of me?”
A delicate blush creeps onto her cheeks, and she frees herself from his arm. Her voice sounds unaffected as she responds, though. “I’m sure your father could provide you with the best personnel there is.”
“They’ve got nothing on you, though.”
She snorts, the little smile on her lips enough to make his heart flutter. “Charmer.”
They take one of their many secret escape routes – avoiding both the Gorilla and Kagami’s mother has become kind of a hobby to them, after all. A fun one, too. For a while, they kept notes on which route is the fastest and easiest, creating categories to judge them and eventually rating them. This time, they choose one next to the sport halls. Rated three out of five, but the exit leads right to a coffee stand they grew fond of, and it allows them to saunter on to the Seine right away.
Warm spring sun shines down on them as they sip their coffees. They talk about school, about their homes, and Adrien glances at her free hand. It wouldn’t take much to hold it, to let their fingers intertwine. Still, he hesitates. He broke her heart, and he has no idea if he would forgive himself if he was in her position. And yet –
“I’ve been thinking,” she says, not looking at him.
Their steps are light, the area is quiet. Adrien risks a glance at her. Brows furrowed. For whatever reason, his stomach does a flip. “Thinking about?”
“Us.”
“Us?”
Kagami nods. Still doesn’t look at him. Their casual pace doesn’t falter. She gives a tiny sound, and then, she rolls her shoulders. “I’m very glad that despite having been in a short relationship, we could continue to build our friendship. I appreciate your companionship a lot, even if it is only platonic.”
She pauses for so long that he can’t help but answer. “Yes, me too. And I’m still –”
“Don’t say you’re sorry. It was an honorable and brave decision to tell me your true feelings. You didn’t hesitate to do the right thing, and it’s …” She stops for good. It takes him some steps to follow suit, and she is staring at the ground as she continues. “Adrien. I want to ask if you could give us another chance.”
“Oh.” Of course Nino was right, and she would be the bolder one. Of course she would beat him to it. His cheeks flame up, and he buries his hands in his pockets.
“I know,” she continues sharply, a delicate shimmer of pink on her cheeks, “that you value our friendship. I do, too. But I can’t deny that over the past months of us rebuilding our friendship, I … I developed feelings for you again. I can’t keep quiet about them anymore. And I don’t want to, either.”
He gulps. Looks at her. He wasn’t doing her justice. He saw the same strength in her that he saw in Ladybug. He thought that Kagami could fill an endless void, one that nobody would have been able to fill. They dated for one month before Ladybug told him that she was dating another guy, and he broke apart on the spot, and what he had with Kagami broke apart just as quickly.
He hurt Kagami so much, and yet, she took it with a strength he has always admired about her.
But months after months taught him who Kagami really is. What kind of vulnerability can lie underneath her words. He can’t deny that something is growing between them, even though he can’t quite name it yet. He isn’t sure if it is the same kind of love he felt for Ladybug for so long. He only knows that Kagami means a lot to him. God, more than a lot.
“Of course,” Kagami goes on, voice carrying the same sharpness Adrien knows she uses to protect herself, “I cannot expect you to feel the same way about me. After all, you made it pretty clear why you couldn’t be with me half a year ago. Still, you didn’t enter a relationship with anyone else, and several of your actions led me to believe –”
“Okay,” he whispers.
Her head shoots up. The color on her cheeks intensifies. He hesitates to step closer, but he does so anyway.
“Okay,” he repeats. “I’m just – under one condition.”
She keeps looking at him.
“Let’s take it slow. Okay? Let’s not make the same mistake as last time.” He reaches for her hand, shivering as he feels warm skin against his. “Just take it one step at a time. See where it leads us, not label it too soon. See what feels right. If that is okay with you.”
She squeezes his hand. “Unfortunately, patience is not my strong suit. But … for you, waiting might be worth it.”
He cracks a smile. Watches the glimmer in her eyes. “Might be? How very romantic.”
“I was not trying to be romantic. I was being honest.” Still, she blushes a bit, and his smile grows.
“So, is this our first date?”
“Technically, it isn’t.”
“True. We had way more ice cream the first time around.”
“Ice cream, then?”
He intertwines their fingers and tugs her along, a warm feeling settling in his chest as she leans against him.
Marinette tries to concentrate on her French homework, but it’s getting harder and harder. Not because of her lack of sleep – not entirely – but because she dreads the sound of her parents’ voices reaching her any moment now. The tip of her pen meets the paper again and again. An essay about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Including a lot of sleep, she guesses. Yeah, maybe to avoid being grilled by your teacher. Or grilled by your parents. Or to avoid falling asleep every other second in the middle of classes.
She glances at her phone. It’s only been one month, and god, sometimes she misses hearing his voice so much she just wants to curl up and stop thinking about anything. Luka always knew what to say to make her heart ache less. He held her without questioning her just once when she cried. He was always there for her.
Tikki sends her a concerned look. “You don’t think your parents will be too hard on you, do you?”
“I don’t know,” she whispers. “I’ll have to come up with an excuse, and no matter how hard I think about it, I have no idea what to tell them.”
Tikki’s antennas droop. “One of my girls told her parents she was possessed by the holy spirit?”
“Wow, they are so gonna buy this! Great idea, Tikki!”
“Really?” Tikki’s face lights up, and Marinette raises her eyebrows at her.
“Sorry, no. Very bad idea.”
“Oh.”
Marinette sighs again. Shoots a quick look at her wardrobe, the Miracle Box securely hidden underneath clothes. She makes sure to give all kwamis some time outside the box, but it’s mostly safer to keep them hidden. Still, she taps the end of her pen against her chin.
“Trixx,” she mumbles. “Trixx could create an illusion of me.”
“Which would mean,” Tikki muses out loud, “that you’d have to combine our Miraculouses every time you fight an akuma. And that would mean that your body would soon give out on you.”
“Or I don’t transform. Plagg used his Cataclysm outside of a transformation, too.”
Tikki visibly shivers. “The consequences are enormous, Marinette. Trixx’s Mirage once drove a whole town in Sweden mad.”
Marinette stares. “What? Really?”
“Yes. They started shouting at nothing but air and thought they saw people watching them everywhere, even after Trixx revoked the effects. The human mind can be really fragile. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”
She makes a face. “Okay. I can do without driving my parents crazy.”
“And don’t even let me get started on the one time he lost a bet, and Plagg just found out about the concept of UFOs, and there you go, we’ve got to deal with the consequences to this day! Plagg is such an irresponsible clunk, I can’t believe it.”
“Huh.” Marinette blinks slowly. “UFOs.”
“Yes. Trixx did his best to reverse the effects, but, well. The Loch Ness Monster exists for a reason, too.”
Marinette blinks again. “Was that also Plagg’s fault?”
An exasperated look. “What do you think?”
So much for that.
For a few more minutes, Marinette tries to do her French homework. A knock on her trapdoor makes her flinch at once. She whirls around as her dad peeks in, the same emotion as last night shining in his eyes. “Could you please come downstairs, Marinette?”
“Sure,” she croaks, her throat feeling suddenly way too tight. Her whole body is shaking. She’d like nothing more than to transform and flee as quickly as possible. There is nothing she could say to make this more believable. Absolutely nothing she can do. Her heart racing, she starts climbing down the stairs.
“You can do it,” Tikki whispers before disappearing into thin air.
Marinette isn’t too sure about that.
Her parents are waiting for her in the kitchen. Sabine’s hands are clasped before her, and it oddly reminds Marinette of Miss Mendeleiev’s reaction, all serious and worried. Her dad is standing next to the table, arms crossed and forehead wrinkled. The silence is pressing down on her as Marinette sits down across from them, nervously letting her knees meet each other again and again. For several seconds, none of them says anything. Her parents exchange a look before Sabine’s eyes lock with hers.
“All I want you to do is be honest with us,” Sabine says, voice quiet. “That’s everything we’re asking of you. Whatever you’re doing, we can work out a solution. We can talk through it. But we need you to be absolutely honest with us, Marinette.”
As if she wouldn’t like to be. As if she has that much of a choice.
“The three times I checked on you in the middle of the night,” Tom continues, “you were neither in your bed, nor on your balcony. You weren’t home at all.”
Marinette swallows hard, her eyes on the table.
“You didn’t come clean to us on your own.” She hears Sabine shift. “But we need to know what you are doing in the middle of the night. We are your guardians. We need to protect you from harm. It’s our responsibility.”
“Are you going to parties?” Tom asks.
Marinette releases a shaking breath. “I’m not,” she whispers, her head racing for another explanation.
“Concerts? Meet-ups? Doesn’t matter if you’re drinking something, or smoking, or taking drugs. That’s not the main focus for now. Just tell us where you are in the middle of the night.”
Oh god. She’s doing none of those things. That’s just – it’s not even funny anymore. Sighing, she sinks further into herself. “I’m taking midnight walks.”
Sabine exhales. “Midnight walks? You’re taking midnight walks?”
“You’re climbing out of the window for midnight walks,” Tom repeats.
Maybe they would have bought it had she claimed such way earlier. But how things stand, it just sounds like a cheap excuse. Oh god, they don’t believe her. She just needs one good excuse. Before, Luka was the perfect one. She could visit him whenever, and he covered for her without hesitation. It was easy enough to tell him that she’d just needed some time away from home. He understood. Didn’t bat an eye when her parents questioned him. There’s no one else that could do the same. Not with all of her friends’ parents knowing each other.
All of them, expect one.
Her heart does a jump. But it’s the perfect solution. It’s more than perfect. The consequences can come later, she guesses. There’s no time to think it through.
She sharply lifts her head, coming face to face with her parents’ palpable concern, and the words leave her in a hurry.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you. It’s still very fresh. You know him, actually. I’m just visiting him. His dad is way too strict, so I mostly sneak in when he’s asleep. I mean, his dad. When his dad is asleep. I know I shouldn’t do it, but we were afraid you two – or his father – I –”
“Wait. Slow down.” Tom gestures hastily, brows drawn together. “Who exactly do we know?”
“My … my boyfriend.”
Another exchange of looks. Concern turns to confusion. “A new boyfriend? Not Luka, right?”
“No! No. It’s actually …” She hunches her shoulders, bites the inside of her cheek. “He is – was – a friend. He was here before.”
“Okay? Who is it?”
There is no time to falter. So she swallows down her doubts and just says it.
“Adrien. Adrien Agreste.”
Another few seconds of silence. The lie got over her lips easily, but the aftermath is a bit harder. She does her best not to blush, but of course her cheeks turn warm anyway, and her parents keep looking at her funnily.
“You are sneaking out to meet him,” Tom summarizes. “In the middle of the night.”
“Yes! Yes.” It sounds ridiculous even to herself, and the implication isn’t lost on her, but Marinette does her best not to let out a loud scream and forget about this stupid idea in a matter of seconds. “His father doesn’t know about us yet. He doesn’t let him out often, and if he’d ask to have a sleepover at mine, well, uh …”
“A sleepover,” Sabine repeats. A shimmer of amusement comes alive in her eyes. Marinette ducks her head.
“I – uh. We – well.”
“What you do when you’re alone with your boyfriend is none of our business,” continues Sabine, “but where exactly you are at night is. Why didn’t you tell us before? We never had a problem with you being at Luka’s either.”
“We just – we haven’t been official for too long,” she mumbles, looking away again. “It just … It kind of happened. And then, I didn’t know how to tell you.”
They exchange another look. “Adrien Agreste, huh?” Tom repeats. For whatever reason, the tone he used makes Marinette blush even more, and seconds pass until both of them turn back to her, grins on their faces.
Okay. Not the reaction she would have anticipated.
“Ah, yes. We aren’t too surprised, honestly.” Sabine’s eyes glimmer. “We didn’t think you’d be so sneaky about it, though.”
“What do you –”
“Invite him for dinner!” Excitedly, Tom pats Marinette’s back. “And tell him to ask his father just once if he could spend the night here. For a sleepover.”
“Uh …” Marinette scratches her cheek. “I don’t know, um … We didn’t tell his father yet, and I …”
“Well, it would be the perfect opportunity!” Sabine smiles broadly at her. “Oh, that’s really romantic. Sneaking out to be with your boyfriend at night …”
“You could have just told us.” Tom sighs. “Sweetheart. We know what it is like to be young and in love.”
“Y-yeah! Young, in love, totally.”
“You should have told us, actually. We were worrying for nothing.” Again, Tom gives a heavy sigh. “Please promise us to tell us things like this. Don’t give us so many heart attacks, dear.”
“I’m – I’m so sorry, I …”
“Great! Dinner tomorrow. I can’t wait!” Sabine claps her hands as she jumps to her feet. “Say, what’s his favorite pastry?”
“Anything with passion fruit.” Marinette starts to sweat. “I mean – wait. What. Tomorrow?”
Tom is still patting her back. “Okay, okay, we’ll be lenient. The day after tomorrow is good enough too.”
Marinette chokes. “I’m not sure – he’s busy. Very busy. A model, famous, all that stuff, I’m not sure if …”
“Oh, then let him choose a date.” Sabine giggles. “A date! You get it?”
“Ha! Yeah. That’s so funny. Very clever.”
Oh god. She is screwed.