Merry Christmas @foldfish!!! I was your secret Santa for @mlsecretsanta. I hope your holidays were fantastic!
Nino, Alya, Marinette, and Adrien had decided about two weeks ago that one final giant sleepover was completely necessary to mark the end of winter break and arrival of the New Year. So they had planned to get together at Adrien’s mansion and hang out. After several phone calls to Mr. Agreste and begging and pleading from Adrien to Natalie, schedules were arranged and rules were placed. The four teens were ecstatic to spend quality time with each other.
The epic sleepover started around three on a Saturday after the last photo shoot of Adrien’s week. Nino was the first to arrive and he headed immediately to Adrien’s room. The ban on Nino’s visits had long since been lifted, although mysteriously. Adrien figured Natalie had something to do with it. Nino strolled into Adrien’s room without so much of a thought about knocking and threw his bag onto Adrien’s bed.
“Hey Nino.” Adrien said pausing and looking up from his video game. He was determined to beat Marinette and started practicing the moment he got home.
“Hey dude,” Nino replied joining his friend on the couch, “Have you heard from the gals?“
Adrien picked up his phone from beside him and checked for new messages. He shook his head and shrugged.
“They’ll probably be here soon” Adrien said.
As if on cue, a timid knock came on Adrien’s bedroom door. Nino shot a knowing look at Adrien, who called for the guest to come in. Marinette pushed the door open and stepped inside. Her arms were drawn close to her body, wrapped around a light pink overnight bag. As usual she looked uncomfortable and shy. Marinette and Adrien had gotten a considerable amount closer over the past month or two, due to Alya’s constant pushing and prodding but Marinette was still a little tongue tied and shy around the sweet boy. After a few hours around him, she would calm down but not before he told some lame jokes. Adrien watched her as she stood just inside the door. She started turning red and fidgeting. Nino started glancing between the two as the unnecessary tension started to rise. Nino wasn’t exactly sure why this always happened between these two but the whole room was starting to feel stuffy and he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hey Adrien, Marinette is here.” Nino said, stating the obvious because despite staring at her, he still had yet to greet her like a normal person.
Adrien looked back at Nino for a second before turning and smiling brightly at Marinette.
“Hey Marinette. Long time no see.” He greeted coolly.
She stopped fidgeting and just stood frozen for a second but her brain eventually caught up with the world around her and she waved a hello. Most of the time she opted out of talking until the initial shock of seeing Adrien wore off. Adrien looked at the bag she was carrying and back up at her eyes.
“You can put that on my bed if you’d like.” He gestured to his bed, where Nino’s green backpack was already resting.
She nodded and took a deep breath as Adrien looked back at Nino who was furiously typing on his phone.
“Is Alya held up in traffic or something?” Adrien asked.
Nino scrunched up his eyebrows and frowned down at his phone screen.
“No… She just…ugh.” He groaned.
Adrien raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.
“She thought she saw Ladybug and chased her all over town. Turns out it was just a very enthusiastic fan. She’s gonna be a while.” Nino sighed and shook his head.
Adrien smiled to himself and looked over to Marinette. His lady has so many dedicated fans.
“Did she say how long she would be?” Marinette asked from beside Adrien’s bed. She really had no idea where she was supposed to stand so she stayed next to her bag.
“Uh..” Nino looked down at his phone again, “half an hour?“
Marinette sighed and rubbed her upper arms nervously. Alya was her backbone. Without Alya, she could barely look at Adrien. She glanced at him. He was staring at her again. Did she have something on her face? Marinette began to panic internally. Why was life so difficult? She looked away from Adrien and hoped that he would tell her if something really was on her face.
Nino looked up from his phone to see Adrien staring at poor Marinette again. Marinette was intently staring at the wall away from Adrien and slowly turning red again. Nino nudged Adrien.
"Dude. Quit staring. You’re freaking her out.” He muttered.
Adrien seemed to reenter reality.
“Hm. Oh. What?” He sputtered and looked at Nino,“I wasn’t staring."
"Uh huh. And I wasn’t born yesterday. What’s going on with you, dude? Why are you so focused on Marinette?” Nino whispered, looking at Adrien with mild concern.
Adrien turned red and indignantly whispered.
“I’m not focusing on her! What does that even mean?”
Nino raised his eyebrows, giving Adrien an exasperated look.
“You know perfectly well what I mean. Why are you suddenly so interested in Marinette?” He bit back.
Marinette was still standing by the bed, slowly getting more and more uncomfortable as the whispered conversation continued.
“Uh… guys?” She started, unsure of what to say.
Adrien whipped around to face her, clearly thankful for the distraction from Nino’s question. Nino glared at the back of Adrien’s head before turning to face Marinette as well.
“Is uh… is everything okay?” She asked cautiously.
“I don’t know. I was just asking Adrien why he keeps staring at MPH!” Nino started but was cut off by Adrien’s hand clamping over his mouth.
Adrien turned back to Marinette, his hand still over Nino’s mouth as he squirmed to get free, and smiled sheepishly. He couldn’t let Nino ruin his chances to be Marinette’s friend. Not when he already ruined his alter ego’s chances. Around the same time that Alya started all but forcing Marinette to hang out with Adrien, Chat Noir started making nightly visits at her house. It was innocent; he just wanted to know why she was so anxious around Adrien, although he never did figure it out. They ended up becoming close friends despite Chat’s forced secrecy. Chat even developed a small crush. But eventually Chat’s bad luck kicked in and he walked in on Marinette de-transforming after a patrol. Marinette and Chat hadn’t talked since then. Patrols and akuma battles were awkward silences.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about.” He said, mentally begging her to not question why he launched himself at Nino.
Marinette looked like she had just witnessed a murder. Her face was pale and she was standing so ridged it was easy to picture her being made of stone. Adrien nervously wondered if she had put two and two together and filed in the blank for what Nino was about to say. Nino, who was still very much trapped under his best friend’s hand, was starting to have a difficult time breathing and decided desperate times call for desperate measures.
“ARGHK!” Adrien wailed as he sprung off Nino, “You licked me!” He yelled indignantly.
“Well of course I licked you!” Nino said as he sat up and straightened his shirt, “I could barely breathe with you crushing me like that."
Adrien stuck his tongue out at him childishly and wiped his hand off on the back of the couch. Nino rolled his eyes and glanced over at Marinette who was regaining color and taking deep breaths.
"Uh… Marinette, are you okay,” he asked, wishing Alya would hurry up.
“Yeah” she replied, resting her forehead in her hand and sighing, “but I think I might be getting sick so I should probably go home…”
She picked up her bag, walked to the door, and pushed it open almost hitting a confused Alya in the face.
“Where are you going?” Alya asked as Marinette tried to continue out.
“Home?” Marinette asked hopefully.
Alya smirked and shook her head.
“Nuh uh,” she said leaning forward to place the back of her hand to her friend’s forehead, “No fever no excuse.”
Marinette pouted as Ayla turned her around and prodded her back into Adrien’s room.
“Hey Adrien,” Alya greeted as she entered, leaning over the back of the couch and kissing Nino on the nose to greet him.
“Hey Alya.” Adrien said, staring at Marinette again, concern apparent on his features.
Alya quickly picked up on his worry.
“Oh stop. She’s perfectly fine. She’s just worried that she’ll make a fool of herself in front of MMM!” Alya was cut off by Marinette’s hand.
“I-I don’t know what she’s talking about!” Marinette stumbled out, turning red.
Alya rolled her eyes and licked Marinette’s hand. Marinette squeaked and turned to wipe her hand on the closest nonmoving thing. Which just happened to be poor stunned Adrien.
Adrien flung himself back in surprise, falling right to the floor before quickly springing up and pointing an accusing finger back and forth between Alya and Nino.
“What is with you two and licking people!” He demanded.
“What is it with you two and not letting us finish our sentences!” Nino shot back.
Adrien opened his mouth to defend himself but came up with nothing and decided to just glare at Nino.
“Aright!” Alya interjected as she wrapped one arm around Marinette’s shoulders and flung her orange overnight bag towards the bed with the other. She paused a moment to glare at the bag when it landed just next to the bed instead of on it.
“Let’s get down to business!” She continued.
She pulled Marinette, who was still frozen in horror from wiping spit on Adrien, forward and plopped her on the floor in front of the couch where the boys were sitting.
“What are we gonna do first?” Alya asked as she sat next to Marinette.
“Well, first you’re going to tell us exactly why you thought some elaborate cosplayer was Ladybug.” Nino said smugly as Alya turned red.
“Hey! She looked very legit! It’s not my fault some people are good at recreating super suits!” She rebuked, glaring up at Nino’s smug smile.
“…why don’t we play a bored game or something?” Adrien suggested.
“Yes! A bored game!” Marinette chimed in watching as her friends got closer and closer. It was unclear if they were going to make out or fight and Marinette didn’t want to watch either.
Alya sighed and turned her gaze to Marinette and Adrien. Shrugging she offered a noncommittal “sure.” Nino nodded his approval.
So they pulled out a dusty copy of monopoly and the blood bath began. Feelings were hurt. Death threats were made. The only good outcome of the game was Marinette settling down. No one came out of the game unscathed. In fact, no one even finished the game. After a long hour and a half and one too many poorly timed puns from Adrien, Alya had enough and flipped the board with a battle cry terrifying enough to strike fear in the heart of Hawkmoth himself. Marinette, who was the first one to go bankrupt, was huddled right in Alya’s line of fire and ended up being rained on with plastic houses and paper money.
“Done with that!” Alya cried, “No more! Never again!"
Adrien nodded in stunned silence while Nino let out a cross between a sob and a groan. All four of the teenagers continued to sit in the circle on the floor not making eye contact for about ten minutes. Eventually, Marinette picked up all the tiny pieces and shoved them haphazardly into the box.
"Okay… what ELSE can we do?” She asked to no one in particular.
Alya, who had been staring intensely at the floor, broke into a devious grin.
“I know. We could play truth or” Alya was cut off by two pillows from the couch thrown at her face.
“PILLOW FIGHT!” Adrien and Marinette screamed in unison.
“Oh it’s on.” Alya said reaching for one of the pillows that had hit her.
Nino awoke from whatever monopoly stupor that he was in and grabbed the other pillow. Marinette and Adrien both ran for the bed to retrieve weapons as Alya and Nino started beating each other senseless. They got to the bed at the same time and grabbed the pillows. They looked up, holding eye contact and waiting for the other person to move first. Before Adrien could block her, Marinette lurched forward and hit him upside the head with her pillow with all of her might. She turned and ran out of his room followed by Nino and Alya. Adrien was left to shake his head in confusion. Most of the pillow fights he had seen were from TV shows and movies. They always seemed lighthearted and fun but this one had so quickly turned into a full on war. He shrugged to himself, grabbed his pillow, and rushed from the room to find his friends.
The house was silent as he moved quietly along. Adrien thanked his lucky stars that his father was away on business.
Meanwhile, a few hallways over Marinette was planning a sneak attack on Alya. As she crept up behind her an idea formed in her head. Marinette tucked her pillow under her arm and tapped her on the shoulder. Alya spun around, pillow raised at the ready.
“Truce! Truce!” Marinette begged, ducking her head and raising her hands defensively.
“Do you have a plan?” Alya asked although she was almost positive of the answer.
Marinette nodded and smiled.
Adrien was peeking around a corner to check for ambushes when Marinette came running up to him.
“Adrien!” She called sliding to a stop in front of him, “I overheard Alya and Nino talking. They formed an alliance!"
"What? Is that even allowed?” Adrien asked sounding shocked.
Marinette nodded solemnly.
“I think we should team up. We could totally take them!” She said cheerfully.
Adrien looked at her hopeful face and a sudden wave of guilt hit him. He had to tell her that he was Chat Noir and soon. He needed to apologize. He didn’t know what to say so he just nodded and smiled. He was sure if he tried to speak he would have just ended up blurting out his identity.
Marinette smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him down a hallway.
“I heard them over by the stairs. They sounded like they were planning a surprise attack.” She explained.
Adrien allowed her to pull him over to the bottom of the main staircase. She let go of his hand and peered around the banister. She turned back to face him.
“I think they might be over..” Marinette started.
“I’m Chat Noir.” Adrien cut her off quickly.
Alya and Nino ran around the stairs with duel battle cries and came to a stop in front of Adrien and Marinette. Marinette shook her head slightly to clear it.
“DOUBLE AGENTS!” Marinette yelled and without holding back in the slightest slammed her pillow into Adrien’s face.
Alya followed suit with Nino and the two girls beat the boys into the ground with no mercy.
After the girls decided they had fully murdered the boys, they helped them to their feet and all four of them marched back to Adrien’s room to change into pajamas and watch a movie before turning in for the night. Marinette acted like she wasn’t internally screaming and Adrien wondered if she had somehow not heard him. They all agreed to watch the first Harry Potter movie. Alya and Nino called the couch and immediately cuddled up with each other. Marinette and Adrien, however, sat on the floor several feet away from each other. Marinette silently prayed that Adrien didn’t realize her night clothes were Chat Noir themed. She had bought them as a joke to show to Chat on a nightly visit but since he had stopped coming she decided to put them to use.
About twenty minutes into the movie Alya and Nino had passed out and were drooling on each other. Marinette and Adrien were left to struggle through the movie in awkward tension. Every few minutes or so one of them would glance at the other who would act like they were incredibly invested in the movie. They did this throughout the entire movie, not bothering to turn it off even though it was obvious no one was paying any attention. When the movie finally ended, Adrien stretched and faked a yawn.
“You can take the bed I’ll sleep on the"
"What did you say?” Marinette interrupted.
Adrien looked at her in confusion.
“I said you can take the bed?” He questioned.
“No. Out in the hall. What did you say?” She was staring at him very intensely.
“Oh…uh.. I…um. I said…I-I’m Chat Noir.” He stuttered out.
Marinette looked away and nodded. Adrien glanced over at Alya and Nino who were dead asleep.
“Are…. are you mad?” He asked nervously.
There was a pause. Adrien would swear that it lasted 15 minutes before Marinette looked up at him, her eyes narrowed.
“Of course I’m mad, you stupid cat!” She whispered so Nino and Alya wouldn’t wake up.
Adrien’s heart plummeted. She was mad. He knew she would be. He felt tears prick his eyes and he looked away.
“Why?” She asked, voice unwavering.
“It was an accident.” He answered truthfully.
“You ignored me on accident?” She asked in disbelief.
“What? No! I just…. I saw you transform on accident. I wasn’t ignoring…” He trailed off as he realized he had been ignoring her.
“Do… do you…” Marinette started, looking around nervously, “do you hate me?"
"HATE YOU?!” He screamed completely thrown off guard.
Marinette launched herself at him, slamming her hand over his mouth. She turned and looked over at Alya and Nino who were still both dead asleep. She turned back around to Adrien who was a brilliant shade of red and crushed under her knee that landed in the middle of his chest.
He nodded, his eyes blown wide. Marinette climbed off of him and knelt near him as he sat back up. He looked at her and blushed.
“Sorry I just…. I could never hate you.” He said honestly.
“Then why didn’t you talk to me?” She asked, still unsure.
“I thought you hated me…” Adrien admitted.
Marinette looked offended.
“Why would I hate you? It wasn’t your fault.” She said.
He shrugged and sighed. He should have known better. Marinette wasn’t the kind of person to get too worked up about stuff like this.
“Hey.” She said, getting him to look up at her, “I’m glad it’s you.”
She smiled wide and bright. He grinned back at her.
“I’m glad it’s you too.” He said.
Marinette blushed and leaned over to shove him lightly.
“Don’t ever ignore me again, you silly kitty” she said jokingly.
“Of course, my Lady.” He replied.
He leaned towards her and rested his head on her shoulder.
“We should probably head to bed.” He said.
In the morning, Nino was woken up to rough shaking and his name being hissed in a hushed whisper.
“Wha.. Alya? Why?” He asked groggily.
She put a finger to her lips to signal silence and pointed to the floor by the couch. Marinette and Adrien were curled up with each other, tangled in blankets with their legs twisted together in one cozy lump. Alya smiled as she pulled out her phone to take pictures. Nino rolled his eyes and shook his head. He turned to Alya and mouthed ‘finally.’ Her grin grew wider. Adrien and Marinette would never hear the end of this.
(I’m writing an epilogue for this and I should have it done soon! Happy holidays!!!!)
