Chapter Text
“Psst, Mari, are you awake?” a soft voice whispered. Marinette scrunched up her face in her dark room, she had only just managed to slip into near complete unconsciousness.
“Marinette?” this time the voice was followed by a knock on her door and Marinette jumped awake.
“What? Who’s there? What do you want?”
“Relax, hey, it’s just me, Chat,” he soothed, pushing open her door a little more.
“Chat Noir,” she groaned, looking at her alarm clock. “It’s nearly three in the morning, it's barely been an hour.”
“I’m sorry, I, er, couldn’t sleep,” he muttered as he stepped in her room, her old quilt wrapped around his apparent shirtless form. She could see he’d put the simple mask she’d leant him back on and felt her heart rate kick up as she remembered having to ask him to help her unzip the shirt Alya had leant her. He had just removed his mask and she had had to keep her back to him the whole time but it had led to an awkward yet intimate moment. Neither of them had moved and Chat had been very careful, trying not to touch her as he had undone the zip, but her skin had exploded into goosebumps nonetheless.
“O-oh. Are you okay?” she asked, shaking herself and hoping her reply wasn’t too delayed.
“I, um, well…”
“You’re worried about the competition too, huh?” she asked before hurriedly back-tracking. “I’m sure Ladybug was up worrying too.”
“Oh, yeah. I hope she is okay,” he said quietly.
“She’s wishing she was asleep,” she muttered quietly before adding, “I’m sure she’s fine, chaton.” She hoped a nickname for him would help calm him. It seemed to help as he sat on the floor by the doorway quietly; Marinette also took the chance to lay back down, trying to get warm again.
“Marinette?” he asked after a moment.
“Yeah?”
“Can I… I mean, would it be okay if I lay with you for a bit?”
“What?” she felt her heart begin to race again.
“You just... I dunno, I feel calmer around you. My mind doesn’t do the swirling vortex of doom. I, er, I understand if you aren’t comfortable with it,” he added, seeming to realize what he was asking. “I mean, I’m quite happy just to sit here by the doorway if that’s okay?”
“Chat…” she wanted to tell him to get back to his own bed; but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She let out a half groan as she shifted in her blankets. “Hurry up, I don’t want to lose warmth,” she muttered.
“A-are you sure?” he asked.
“Hurry up or I’ll change my mind,” she grumbled and he quickly made his way to the other side of the bed, sliding in behind her.
“Th-thank you,” he stammered as he pulled the blanket over him.
“Well it was either this or send you back to the spare room where your mind would spin in the vortex of doom, as you put it,” she sighed. “Plus, if I’d let you sit in the doorway you would have hurt your back, which would be pretty bad considering the competition is this afternoon.”
“R-right,” he replied.
She could feel him lying next to her, heat practically radiating off him while she suppressed a shiver. She turned to her side to try and get comfortable and she felt him do the same, rolling the opposite direction, tugging at the blanket.
She shifted backwards a little, closer to him to so the blanket wasn’t as taught. She felt hyper aware of him, listening to his breathing and trying to keep hers even as she realized it was the first time she had shared a bed with a boy in a very long time.
It took a while, but eventually she heard his breathing deepen and slow, the rhythm lulling her back to sleep.
When Marinette woke, she felt like her head had been slammed against a wall, the combination of alcohol and lack of sleep from the night before taking their toll on her. She was warm though, and outside her window she could just make out the sun beginning to rise, the lighting catching her first handmade quilt.
She blinked a few times, taking a moment to fully register that yes, last night had really happened and yes, the reason she was so warm was because she had the arms of her masked partner wrapped around her. She was practically curled up into his chest, Chat Noir the big spoon snoring softly behind her.
She carefully tried to disentangle herself but the boy refused to loosen his grip. Marinette tried to turn to wake him, but as she did, in her peripheral, caught sight of the mask halfway up forehead. She hurriedly turned back, panicking now as she realized the identity of her partner, the identity she had always denied wanting to know, was available to her. All she had to do was turn around and she would know who Chat Noir really was.
She shook her head. She couldn’t do that. It wasn’t fair to either of them. With a deep breath she calmed herself and very slowly, very carefully shifted his arms until she felt like she could slip out.
“Mari, five more minutes,” he muttered and Marinette froze. He shifted, repositioning his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him again.
She couldn’t fight it, something about the way he said her name, combined with the warmth and the tiredness that kept tugging at her eyelids was all so… tempting.
“Okay, kitty. Five more minutes,” She sighed and felt him gently kiss her shoulder.
A small smile tugged at her lips as she closed her eyes. It was incredibly peaceful, she thought to herself, and Chat Noir liked her both as Marinette and Ladybug. It was probably inevitable that she ended up falling for him, even if she wasn’t completely sure how it had happened.
He was charming and thoughtful, he made her laugh and always challenged her – in good ways, of course. He seemed to notice how and when she deflected things, calling her out on it; he seemed to want nothing but the best for her. He protected her, supported her and she could be herself around him.
She wondered what would happen if she told him the truth. Would he be relieved that she was Ladybug? Or would he feel betrayed that she hadn’t told him? And what about Adrien? She had been so convinced that she was in love with him, but maybe it really was just a crush.
She couldn’t deny the way she felt around him, and she had nearly completely confessed her feelings to him, as Ladybug which felt like an even bigger betrayal to both herself and Chat Noir. She honestly had tried to avoid thinking of him in any romantic sense, even when he tried so hard to get her to see him.
And all it had taken was Nathaniel and one of Alya’s schemes to make her actually see him.
Marinette opened her eyes, it was clear she wasn’t going back to sleep, but the sun coming through the window indicated that she had been dosing for a while.
“Hey Princess,” Chat’s voice was soft as he registered she was awake again.
“Did you sleep okay?” she asked him, not wanting to look at him incase he hadn’t fixed his mask yet.
“I did,” he said as he shifted. “Er, thank you for letting me sleep with you… I mean, not like, sleep with you, but like, sleep next to you.”
“Chat?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Take a breath and relax. Have you, er, fixed your mask?” she asked and the boys arms moved from her waist as he reached to his face.
“I have now. You didn’t peek did you, Princess?” he asked, voice a little teasing. Marinette turned to him, finally able to take in his morning appearance. His hair looked almost no different to how he usually wore it and his eyes were a little faded from sleep but otherwise he looked… attractive.
“Of course, I didn’t,” she tapped his nose lightly. “That wouldn’t have been very paw-lite of me, would it?” she added and he gave a chuckle.
“And here I thought you abhorred puns.”
“What can I say, you’ve grown on me. Like moss or something,” she added teasingly.
“Well, if this is how you treat all your guests I can’t say I’ll be leaving a good review,” he raised an eyebrow and they both laughed.
It was quite a content picture, Marinette thought to herself. The two of them wrapped in each other’s arms, looking into each other’s eyes, the morning sun streaming in.
He gently stroked a strand of her hair from her face, his fingers lingering on her cheek for a moment before she blushed and he moved his hand away.
“Hey, Marinette?”
“Y-yeah?”
“After today… after this whole competition thing with Volpina is over… would you… I mean, could I maybe take you out sometime?” he asked, his eyes looking everywhere but hers as he stammered out his proposal.
Marinette’s eyes widened. She hadn’t been expecting that. Part of her was overjoyed and wanted to say yes and begin planning their first date, the other part of her knew she should thank him but decline until she figured out her own feelings, for Adrien and Chat.
Instead she blurted out; “What about Ladybug?”
~~~~~
Marinette raised a good point. What about Ladybug? It wasn’t as if he had completely forgotten about her. In fact, she was the reason he hadn’t been able to sleep.
His mind had been reeling and he had been questioning his feelings for her. After all, he had met Ladybug after he had met Marinette. He had just gotten caught up in the mystery of it all, he thought. Yes, that had to have been it.
That being said, Ladybug was her own person. She had so much he hadn’t yet learned about her and he did love the parts of her had come to learn. They were growing closer, despite everything that had been happening; and she was his partner after all.
All the thoughts he had managed to escape for a few hours were back in his mind with Marinette’s three words.
He had honestly meant what he had said. He did want to take Marinette out; he couldn’t deny that he did have feelings for her. She was so sincere, so kind and careful. Her loyalty was never in question and she stood up for herself. She was clever and talented and she was there for both Chat Noir and Adrien when he needed her.
“Marinette, I-”
“Please don’t,” she said, gently putting her fingers over his lips. “Trust me, I want to say yes, truly I do; but you have feelings for Ladybug and I… have my own tangled web of feelings to deal with. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us, or those we care about, if we started something right now. Does that make sense?” she asked, meeting his eyes.
He could see the emotions in her mind, her indecision and her loyalties, her honesty trying to keep them both on the right path. He let out a soft sigh before gently kissing her forehead. She was right.
“I guess we should get up then,” he murmured into her hair. He wasn’t ready to end their moment, strawberry and vanilla sent of her hair, her warmth in his arms and the soft morning light… it was the nicest morning he’d had in a while.
“I guess so,” she replied, making no real effort to move either.
It wasn’t until her phone began to chime from his side of the bed that they both groaned in annoyance. He rolled onto his back to stretch and Marinette climbed over him, silencing the alarm as she did. He tried not to think too hard about the way she had moved and watched as she kicked a pile of clothes to the corner of her room.
She was wearing light pink pajama pants with a black floral design and a black and white dotted tank top. Her hair stuck up a little in the back but she ran her fingers through, tugging it into a ponytail before shooting him a look to say he’d been caught staring. He felt his cheeks go pink as he looked away but she just headed out of the room. He could hear her arranging stuff in the kitchen, music floating through and Tikki chirping away happily in her cage.
Adrien sat up, pulling the handmade quilt over his shoulders and making his way back into the spare room to put his jeans and shirt back on. He sent Gideon a quick message saying he was still at Marinette’s and would be leaving soon and then made his way out, keeping the quilt around him like a cape.
“Take your pick,” Marinette stifled a yawn as she gestured to a plate of pastries on the kitchen counter. Adrien sat in a stool and grabbed the bear claw, smiling slightly as he remembered their baking adventure at the bakery.
As he took a bite, he thought back. In the few weeks since he had met Marinette, he was doing more with his life, having adventures like the ones Marinette had been reminiscing the night before.
“Sorry it’s nothing fancy,” the girl apologized as she slid him a coffee. “But I feel like we’re going to need it today.”
“You’re not wrong,” he sighed, taking a sip. It was bitter and burned his tongue but it didn’t matter, he could feel his body begin to protest so much activity. “Going to bed so late was a terrible idea. I hope Ladybug went to bed earlier than we did.”
He thought he heard Marinette mutter ‘she wishes’, but he couldn’t be sure as the radio picked up on the stereo beside him. With a slight frown he turned it down a little before returning to his bear claw that was nearly completely gone.
“Do you happen to have any more bear claws?” he asked and Marinette cocked her head. “Please?”
She turned, stretching up a little to reach the higher shelves in the cabinets and rummaged around, pulling out an airtight container.
“I was hoping to save one, but I can always go visit my parents tomorrow or something” she slid the container to him and Adrien raised an eyebrow when he saw his name.
“Adrien?”
“O-oh,” her cheeks went bright red as she hurriedly ripped the name from the container. “He likes them. I put it aside for him, but we, er, haven’t had lunch together for a while.”
“That’s nice of you,” he smiled, hoping he wasn’t appearing too pleased. He was starting to wonder what else Marinette noticed about him.
“O-oh, it’s really nothing.”
“Can’t you just make some yourself?”
“I can, it’s just a matter of time and resources. The bakery is the best place for that,” she replied sounding a little annoyed. Her phone chimed in the other room and she went to go check it, leaving Adrien with Tikki and the music.
He found himself nodding his head to the beat when Marinette came rushing back in. If he didn’t have the competition looming over his head, it would have been a perfect morning, well minus Marinette freaking out.
“I’m sorry but you need to leave,” she said as she returned, now dressed in blue denim overalls and a black Jagged Stone shirt. He wanted to comment on her choice of clothes but registered what she had said.
“What? Why?”
“Alya is coming over and if she sees you here in your clothes from last night she’s going to freak the hell out,” Marinette shook her head as she scampered around him, picking up their abandoned mugs from the night before and putting them in the sink before sliding the quilt from his shoulders.
“Hey! I was comfortable,” he protested.
“And when Alya gets here and sees you in the clothes from last night, you won’t be. Look, please, I’m not trying to be weird about it, but Alya seems to think something is going on between us and I don’t want to give her any reason to-”
“Wait, nothing’s going on between us?” he asked, raising his eyebrows and she shot him a pained expression. Adrien put the bear claw down, dusting the sugar off on his jeans. “Marinette, it’s okay. Take a breath. She has no reason to think anything’s going on. I stayed in the spare room remember?” he pulled her into a hug and she took a deep breath.
“R-right. She doesn’t need to know you stayed in my bed. Oh god, what if she finds out you stayed in my bed?” Marinette nearly shrieked and Adrien grabbed her shoulders.
“Mari, please stop, it’s very early and you’re being very loud,” he begged. “Look, Alya won’t know what we don’t tell her, okay? It’ll be okay, besides, she had as much to drink as you did. I’d be surprised if she even cared I was here,” he explained and she met his eyes before nodding.
“You’re right. I’m over-reacting. I need to just calm down.” She took a breath, moving her hands up as she inhaled and then down as she exhaled.
“Better?” he asked and she smiled.
“Wait, why did you stay over?” she asked. “What do we tell her when she-” There was a knock at the door. Adrien gave Marinette a thumbs up, hoping it was hiding how his own heart was now racing as he realized that Alya would know exactly who stayed the night. He sat back at the counter, turning the radio back up a little before trying to hurriedly finish his pastry.
“Good Morning!” Alya practically sang as Marinette opened the door. “Mari, my girl you have to-” her eyes caught him sitting at the bench and he gave her a small wave as he took a sip of coffee in his already full mouth.
“Chat Noir? What are you…” she looked him up and down. “Did you stay? I asked you to watch out for her!” she cried.
Adrien hurriedly tried to swallow the last of his food.
“He did,” Marinette answered for him, seeing his mouth was still full. “He did a good job too, I completely forgot about Nathaniel last night.” The name sent something off in his head.
“Did you know he’s been stalking her before last night?” Adrien burst and Alya looked at Marinette before looking back at him, a shamed expression on her face. “You’re kidding!” he cried.