Marichat May 2020
Hey everyone! On with the show with another one-shot! Cross-posted on Fanfiction, and please, don’t repost on another site without permission! I hope you enjoy!
Day 17 - Paparazzi
"ADRIEEEEEEEEN!"
He groaned, hearing his name being screamed from multiple sources behind him as he ran from the crowd of people trying to catch him.
It was like the 'Adrien the Fragrance' ad all over again. He knew doing that twenty page spread for the Gabriel magazine was going to come back to bite him, and here was the result, fans chasing him throughout all of Paris.
He turned a corner and was startled by multiple brilliant flashes of light, taking a few steps back as he shielded his eyes.
Damn it. - He thought. Paparazzi.
"Adrien!" "Adrien!" "Did you mean what you said in the interview with the spread released last week?"
"Is there really only one girl who has ever caught your eye?"
"Who is she?"
"How long have you known her?"
"What's her name?!"
"Will we be seeing the two of you out together anytime soon?"
"No comment." He answered automatically, backing up away from the paparazzi while trying to avoid backing up into the crowd of girls that had been following him.
"Is that where you are going now? To go see her?" Another of the paparazzi asked.
"No comment!" He said a little firmer, hating how they never took the hint. He was starting to really regret his decision to stay quiet. When his father told him about the spread, he should have never agreed so easily.
He felt something grab his middle and he was suddenly lifted off of his feet straight into the air. His arms instinctually wrapped around the nearest thing, which happened to be a red and black spotted suit.
"L-Ladybug?!" He said bewildered as they dropped onto a rooftop and out of view from both the hoard of fangirls, and the paparazzi.
Ladybug gave him a small smile, "I'm sorry about tackling you like that. I know I shouldn't have interfered but,"
"NO!" He said too loudly in his relief, hugging her tightly without realizing what he was doing, "Thank you. Thank you so much for pulling me out of there."
She hugged him back, glad that she had managed to find him when she did, "You're welcome. I'm sorry you're going through this. It must be tough."
He dropped his arms suddenly and took a step back, blushing profusely as he put a hand to the back of his neck, "It's not the first time something like this has happened. I think the interview really did me in. Fans are one thing, hounding paparazzi are another."
Ladybug frowned, "No, I get that. Believe me, I get it."
They shared knowing smiles before Ladybug asked, "Would you care for a lift home?"
"No, I don't want to trouble you Ladybug. You already saved me from that mob." He told her, embarrassed that she had to save him in the first place. "If you could just, let me down off the roof, preferably somewhere no one will notice, I can make my own way back."
She smirked, "It's no trouble, and I'd hate to have you get chased all over the city all over again." She looked up in thought before asking curiously, "Isn't there somewhere nearby you could maybe go to hide out for a bit? Maybe with a friend or something?"
He glanced around, "Honestly, I don't even know where I am. I've been taking random turns just trying to lose everyone." He peered carefully over the edge of the roof and saw that he was just a few blocks away from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Marinette. She'd let him hide out at her place for sure, and maybe he'd be able to sneak a few treats in while he was there.
"Actually, I think I have the perfect place and it's not too far from here." He told her happily.
She nodded, but couldn't hide her concern, "And you are sure you can make it on your own?"
He nodded instantly, "Without a doubt. You've already done more than enough by going out of your way to help me." He asked a little curious, "Did I miss an akuma attack or something? I don't think anyone's ever really seen you out unless there was one."
Her cheeks just under her mask turned pink, "O-oh, uh, I wasn't doing anything spectacular or anything, and there wasn't an akuma." She chewed her lower lip, admitting it sounding embarrassed, "I was actually walking home when I saw the paparazzi catch you at the corner. Then the fan-mob came up behind you, and you really looked like you wished you were anywhere but there so,"
He felt his heart flutter happily, "You transformed, just to save me?"
She nodded sheepishly and he hugged her again, simply because he couldn't help himself, "Thank you. I know that could have been risky for you."
"No one was paying attention to me. All eyes were on you." She said it a little softer, "It helps that my civilian self is easily looked over anyways."
"I seriously doubt that." He told her instantly, staring into her eyes. "Your civilian self is probably just as amazing as the way you are now. You may wear a mask, but you are still you. The only difference is a few spots." He touched her mask carefully, and she took a small step back, her voice shaking as she told him, "Y-You're very sweet Adrien, but trust me, you'd never notice me as my civilian self. That I can promise you."
"I've been told I have pretty good eyesight." He teased, smiling brightly when she let out a small laugh that rang through his entire being.
"Let me get you out of here mister twenty-page spread." She teased back, putting her arm around his waist. He hoped she couldn't feel his heart thundering against his ribcage as she lowered them slowly into the nearby alley. She really looked reluctant to leave but he told her with a smile, "I'll be okay, honest. Thank you again Ladybug."
She nodded, "Be safe Adrien. I hope this all dies down soon, for your sake."
She yo-yoed away and he sighed, telling her softly after she disappeared, "You always find a way to make me fall in love with you more, don't you M'lady?"
Plagg floated out from the pocket of his shirt, shaking his head, "You want to get caught by that mob don't you?"
Adrien shivered, "Not a chance. Plagg, Claws Out." He felt the transformation take hold and pulled his baton, vaulting back up to the rooftops. He headed straight towards the bakery, clearing the distance in a few short minutes and glad that he had taken the route with a view. At three of the four corners he would have had to take if he'd gone on foot, there were MORE paparazzi and fans hanging out looking for him.
He dropped onto Marinette's balcony with a relieved sigh, hearing a squeak of surprise coming from below before her head popped up out of the skylight, "C-Chat Noir? What are you doing here?"
He instantly fell to his knees and begged her, "Please purrincess, please let me hang out here for a little while."
She eyed him concerned, "Why? What's going on? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, and I can't explain but I really just need some place to hide out for a little while. Please?" He asked hopefully, giving her the biggest pleading eyes he could.
She didn't look remotely phased, "Why don't you just go home?"
He fidgeted nervously, "Uh, I can't, explain that either, not without revealing my identity."
She started to frown at that, and he told her softly, "You are the only person I can trust. Please Marinette?"
Her frown softened until it turned into a smile, "Fine, come on you pouty kitty."
He smiled brightly and followed her down into her room. He instantly spread out on her floor, stretching out before letting his arms stay splayed out at his sides, "You are a lifesaver purrincess."
She rolled her eyes, watching the tension leave his shoulders. "You owe me one Kitty, and I intend to collect."
He told her quickly, "Whatever the purrincess desires, it is yours!"
She held back her laugh and sat in her desk chair, asking curious, "Really Chat, are you sure you are okay?"
He let out a heavy sigh, staring at her ceiling, "It's just, been a long day." He corrected himself, "It's been a long week actually."
"Guess it's going around." Marinette muttered to herself, but with his sensitive hearing he'd heard her clearly. He sat up and perched on all fours on the floor, tilting his head slightly as he asked curiously, "What do you mean? You've had a long week too?"
"Something like that." She admitted, flipping the page of whatever book she was looking through. He stood and walked over to her, flinching at the sight of the fashion magazine that was causing all this hell. He tried to play off his hatred of the dreadful magazine by asking lightly with a smile planted on his face, "Hey, that's the Gabriel Magazine right? The one with the designer's sons spread?"
Marinette nodded a bit sadly, "Yeah, this is the one that's causing him all kinds of grief."
He asked as though he didn't know exactly what she meant, "Grief? Is the spread no good?"
"The spread is fine. Adrien looks handsome as always," a slight frown crept onto her face as she stared at one of the pictures, "I prefer his real smile, but that's just me."
He peered over her shoulder, honestly confused this time as he commented, "He's smiling in the picture though."
She looked up at him with a shy smile, "Yes, but that," she pointed to the picture on the page, "is his 'model' smile."
"Why does it sound like you have quotes around the word model?" He said with a raised eyebrow.
She giggled slightly, "I guess it did come out that way huh? This smile is the one he shows everyone. It's automatic and to anyone who doesn't know him, they believe it when they see it."
He stared at the seriousness of her face as he said it, knowing it was true, "But you don't."
She shook her head, "No, I don't." She looked back down at the magazine, "I don't know how to explain it, but I can just, tell. His real smile is so much brighter than this one. His eyes shine and he looks so genuinely happy." She said it heavily, "I wish I had a way to make sure he could smile like that all the time."
Chat felt his heart warm and he smiled, "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
It left her before she could stop it, "More than a lot, I love him."
He felt his knee's shake, "You, love him?"
She told him quickly, "I know, it's ridiculous right? You probably think it's just some silly crush from a crazy fangirl."
"No!" He said too quickly in his nervousness, seeing her look surprised before he explained, "I, I'd like to think I know you well enough to know that you mean it, when you say you're in l-love with him."
She smiled sadly, "Thanks Kitty, but you don't have to try and make me feel better." She stared down at the magazine longingly, "Someone like Adrien, he'd never notice me as anything more than a friend." She swiveled in her chair, making sure she could still see Chat Noir and the magazine lying on her desk.
"I'm glad to be his friend, I really am," she laid her head on one of her arms without turning her back to Chat, "I just wish he wouldn't look me over so easily, so that he could see how much he really means to me."
She reached out and fidgeted with the framed picture on her desk of her and Alya, with him and Nino standing on either side of them, tipping it back and forth lightly with a finger.
He tried to pull himself together, her words echoing inside him. Marinette, loved him. But she, she had always denied that she felt something more for him. He had always felt amazingly lucky that he could even call her his friend, and she actually, cared about him so much more than that.
"When did you, fall in love with him?" He asked, trying not to let his nerves show.
She kept fiddling with the picture frame, sighing heavily, "It wasn't one moment really. He surprises me with his kindness, and in the same second can surprise me with his fierceness when it comes to protecting his friends. I get all tongue-tied and can barely stay on my feet when I see him, and he's so sweet. He doesn't ever mention how awkward I am around him. He probably thinks I'm a lunatic."
"I'm sure he doesn't." He told her kindly, her words touching his heart. Usually the first thing people talked about were his looks, and then all the 'great' talents he'd been forced to learn. She didn't mention either, and he had a feeling she wasn't going to bring them up. It sent his heart into a pounding flurry, beating against his chest. How could this incredible girl have so much love in her heart for him? How could he have never realized her feelings when they were as clear as a crystal sky now? He must have really been blind.
"And he's brave," she said with a small smile as she stared at the picture, "he pushed me out of the way of an akuma more than once, when he could have gotten hurt himself. Sometimes when he looks at me, I feel like maybe he sees me, just a little bit. My heart flutters like a hummingbird, and I start to feel all warm inside." She sat up and looked over to the corner of her room where a black umbrella sat leaning up against the wall.
"I guess, it really all started with that." She pointed to the umbrella and Chat looked at it in surprise, recognizing it instantly. "After I treated him so terribly when we first met, he offered me his umbrella even though he'd be without one. He had this look in his eyes, this, something, that just drew me to him instantly. He wasn't anything like what I expected or originally thought, and now that I've had the chance to really get to know him, I know that he's so much more than the face that everyone sees."
She frowned slightly, glancing towards her window, "I hope he's doing okay. All week his bodyguard has been practically escorting him into school because of how bad the paparazzi have gotten. He doesn't deserve to be treated that way. I hate that everyone forgets that he's not just a model or a face on a magazine, he's a person who just wants to be able to hang out with his friends without causing a riot."
"Well, you probably aren't wrong." He managed to get out normally, his eyes glued to the beautiful girl who saw past the glamor and name to who he was underneath. She was probably the only girl in all of Paris who really did.
"He's lucky." He said simply, drawing her attention instantly, "That someone as beautiful inside as she is outside, cares about someone like him at all."
She smiled at him, "He needs people to care about him, not just fawn over him or want to be his friend because he's famous." She let out a soft sigh, "Maybe one day he'll start to see me the way I see him, but even if he never notices me, my feelings will never change. That I can promise you."
'Y-You're very sweet Adrien, but trust me, you'd never notice me as my civilian self. That I can promise you.'
"Ladybug." He whispered, feeling like everything in the world was falling into place.
"Ladybug?" Marinette repeated confused.
He stared into her eyes, the same beautiful bluebell eyes that had captured his heart without her even knowing it. He had to correct her, just like he had before.
"You're wrong you know." He said, wanting nothing more than to close the gap between them.
"Kitty I have no idea what you are talking about." She deadpanned seriously.
He grinned. He wasn't going to keep it from her that he knew, and at the same time, he was going to make sure she knew the truth too. "You're not someone who is easily overlooked. You are beautiful and kind, and caring." He motioned to her wall of designs, "You are crazy talented," he smiled softly, "and you are amazing exactly the way you are now."
He reached up and cupped her cheek, his fingertips resting along the space where her mask would be, not knowing when his feet had carried him over to her. Her eyes widened as she instinctively moved back, her voice shaking, "Y-You're very sweet Kitty but..." she stopped, her voice catching as a lump formed. This... this was just like the conversation she had just had with...
He saw the realization fill her eyes, and told her again, "You may wear a mask, but you are still you. The only difference is a few spots."
It came out as nothing more than a whisper, "Adrien."
He held her face in his hands, making sure she understood, "I told you I had pretty good eyesight."
Her shock turned to pure joy, her eyes tearing up as she said it excitedly, "ADRIEN!" She threw her arms around his neck and he held her instantly, reveling in the way they fit perfectly against each other.
"That went better than I thought." He happily mused out loud.
She pulled back and her face turned white right in front of him, "Oh my god. OH MY GOD! I JUST TOLD ADRIEN HOW I FELT!"
He stood unmoving, watching as she started pacing around her room, rambling so quickly about... the end of the world? She pulled on her pigtails, groaning before adding it nearly in tears, "Oh my god my life is over."
He chuckled softly, watching as she crouched into herself. He went over and crouched in front of her, "I don't think this is going to cause the end of the world, and your life is nowhere near over purrincess."
She shot him a glare at the pun, but he merely grinned, "What? It's true. I think this was a miraculous way to find each other, don't you?"
He told her a little softer, feeling his cheeks warm, "And, I love you too, with or without your spots."
She blushed nearly scarlet, asking with a small frown, "But, you never,"
"Fought with myself, about the most courageous, most daring, girl I've ever met and the beautifully kind, most amazing friend I've ever had?" He told her the truth, "More than once, and for a lot longer than you'd probably believe."
"Try me." She said instantly.
"Adrien the Fragrance." He said sheepishly, watching her eyes widen in shock. "You helped me then too. For hours we ran around Paris, and the whole time I kept thinking, this girl is amazing. I can't believe she's doing this for me. I'm literally dragging her into the chaos and she's not the least bit affected." He started to smirk, "And in her pajamas no less!"
Her face burned and she pushed him hard on the shoulder, watching with immense satisfaction as he fell straight on his behind, "Serves you right for teasing!"
He smiled at her lovingly, acting as though nothing had happened, "That was the first time I realized that being around you made me feel different than I did with anyone else. I was, incredibly happy, despite everything that was going on, and ever since then, I noticed it happening more and more. As long as you were around, nothing could ruin my day."
He moved to his knees leaning towards her so he could rest his forehead against hers, "You've always been the direction my compass has pointed me to, if... if I'm not too late."
He felt her soft lips press against his with a passion that sparked every nerve ending to life. His hands found her waist and she moved closer, practically sitting in his lap as she kissed him senseless.
Her hands moved through his hair, causing a deep rumble through his chest as he felt his way up her back. She arched into him, rising up slightly so that she was in control of the kiss, and he wasn't complaining. The tips of his claws cut into the ties holding her hair, and some small part of his brain that was still registering information warned him to be careful or he'd end up hurting her by accident. That was the last thing he wanted.
He whispered it quickly against her lips, "Plagg claws in." His transformation dropped but his lips were back on hers before it fell completely. He put his now clawless hand to the back of her neck, feeling her loose tresses skim like silk across the back of his hand. She hummed appreciatively, adding fuel to the wild fire already raging inside him.
Tikki had her hand over Plagg's mouth, practically holding him in a headlock to keep him quiet as he squirmed to get away from her. The second he was free of the ring, she had pounced. She knew he'd ruin this moment for her and she would NOT let him ruin what she had been waiting over a year for!
She shushed him again as he mumbled unintelligibly, probably something along the lines about gross emotions and needing camembert. She was overjoyed watching their chosen get lost in each other, oblivious to the world around them.
...Bonus...
Neither of them are sure of when they moved to the chaise from the floor, but it sure was more comfortable.
"IT'S COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!" Plagg yelled at Adrien, who merely rolled his eyes and tightened his hold on his new girlfriend lying in his arms, both of them trying to catch their breath. Marinette giggled, making his smile turn loving as he looked at where she had her head resting on his chest. The second their eyes made contact, she gave him another small kiss that made his heart flutter all over again.
"TWO HOURS! YOU'VE BEEN KISSING FOR TWO HOURS!" Plagg whined angrily before they could start again, "WHAT ABOUT MY CHEESE!?"
