BeanzWriting

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Marinette walked into the hotel with Alya at her side and took in the decorations around her. The hotel was a good place for the formal and had been decked out. Everywhere she looked she could see classmates in dresses and suits.

“I see the boys, come on,” Alya said before grabbing her hand and dragging her off.

Marinette saw Nino’s face just as he caught sight of Alya and snickered at the awestruck expression. Marinette had created hers and Alya dresses herself. She’d made Alya a halter styled dark purple gown which hugged her curves and fell straight down.

Turning her attention to Adrien standing at Nino’s side she couldn’t control the blush on her cheeks as Adrien’s expression went from surprised to amazed to downright predatory. She wasn’t surprised, after all she was wearing his colours.

Marinette’s dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and clung to her body right up to her hips where it flared out a little before falling straight down. The dress itself was simple because she’d spent all of her time on the beading which started at the neckline and moved down to her waist, spreading out the closer it got to her waist to give it an almost gradient effect. And in amongst the details she’d put a number of paw prints.

Luckily their best friends were too busy to notice the exchange between her and her secret boyfriend-slash-partner.

“Alya, beautiful look you! No! I mean-”

Marinette turned to Nino and had to hide her snickers behind her hand as he babbled and got tongue-tied around his girlfriend. She felt Adrien come to stand with her and watch their best friends.

“You look absolutely stunning, My Lady,” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

“Thank you, Chaton. You look very handsome yourself,” she whispered back just as quietly. He was wearing a perfectly fitted black suit with a green vest, a vest he’d had made for him to match her dress. They planned on telling Alya and Nino they were together before spending the rest of the night as a couple so they’d decided to make it obvious.

“Why don’t we go and get something to drink while Nino tries to relearn how to talk to his girlfriend properly?” Adrien suggested, offering his arm to Marinette who giggled as she accepted the gesture. A quick glance at Alya and Nino showed that neither of them were paying attention to her and Adrien so the two made their way to the refreshments table.

“So tell me, My Lady, are those paw prints I can see embroidered on your dress?” Adrien asked, obviously trying to sound casual.

“But of course, it wouldn’t be a Chat Noir inspired dress if there were no paw prints. Sadly I didn’t find a black bell to go with the green choker I had planned to wear.”

She giggled when Adrien tripped, shooting a glare in her direction. “You did that on purpose,” he mumbled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chaton,” she replied, smiling at her boyfriend as innocently as possible. He looked at her, raising a brow but made no comment. They had just reached the refreshments table when shouting near the dance floor drew their attention.

Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other before quickly making their way to where the commotion was, only to stop in their tracks when they saw it wasn’t an akuma. Instead Chloe was smirking at Alya while Nino tried to restrain his girlfriend who looked ready to claw Chloe’s eyes out.

Adrien sighed before moving and wrapping his arms around Marinette’s waist. “Can we go back to the drinks and pretend we never saw this?”

Marinette rolled her eyes before relaxing into the embrace and placing her hands on top of his. “We shouldn’t.”

“That wasn’t a no, My Lady.”

Before she could respond to him, Chloe started talking again, not noticing the two of them but Sabrina’s frozen deer-in-headlights look made it clear she’d noticed.

“You actually think that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is going to be a well-known name in the fashion industry with designs like that?” Chloe asked Alya before laughing.

But before Alya could respond, Adrien spoke up. “Either that or Marinette Agreste, I don’t mind which one she picks.”

Marinette froze in his arms while everyone spun to look at the two of them. Nino looked shocked while Alya’s face morphed from rage to shock to absolute glee.

Chloe’s face on the other hand went from triumphant to confused to shocked to absolute rage, her face turning a shade of red Marinette had never seen before.

“WHAT?!” Chloe shrieked out.

Marinette felt Adrien shrug but she couldn’t take her eyes away from Chloe, or eliminate the shock she felt at his words.

“Her designs are amazing and it’s only a matter of time before she’s well-known in the industry. As long as she’s mine I don’t care whether she goes by Marinette Dupain-Cheng or Marinette Agreste.”

No one moved for what felt like hours but was only probably minutes. Finally Marinette turned to look at Adrien only to find him gazing at her with absolute adoration shining on his face. She could see a hint of uncertainty in his eyes and despite the shock she still felt she couldn’t stop the small smile or the way her body relaxed back into his. She watched as the uncertainty left his gaze before he leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

Chloe’s shriek made them both jump but before she could even get close to the two of them Alya and Nino were there, dragging them away.

I have to share the amazingly gorgeous art @twindoodle did for me!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

I could spend all day staring at it and alternating between patting and hugging my screen! It’s just so pretty and they’re all so cute and just AAAAAHHHH!

Thank you thank you THANK YOU Twin Doodle for the amazing art, I absolutely adore it!!!

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It was officially the start of the New Year and Adrien knew that Alya and Nino would be back sometime today and if he knew Alya, which he did, the first stop they’d make would be to the bakery.

“Hey, Kitty, you okay?”

Adrien turned to see Marinette staring at him, worry clear on her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

Marinette raised a brow and walked over to him, turning to rest against the kitchen counter next to him. “You were staring off into space. What’s wrong?”

Adrien sighed then moved to stand in front of Marinette, lifting her up onto the counter, smiling as she squeaked in surprise.

“You know, this isn’t exactly sanitary,” she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Adrien shrugged before quickly leaning over to give her a chaste kiss.

“I’m okay, really. I was just thinking about Alya and Nino coming back and how we’d have to tell them a few things about everything that’s happened. I mean, two weeks ago I was living at the mansion, I had no idea who my Lady was, I was miserable and alone. Now I’m finally free from my father, I’m engaged to the woman I love who also happens to be my Lady, and I’m living in a home so filled with love that it practically envelops you as soon as you walk inside.”

“Oh, Adrien,” Marinette whispered, pulling him into a tight hug.

Adrien sighed and rested his head on her shoulder, thinking back to Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve

“For the last time, Adrien, you will be going to Milan, you won’t be here when school returns,” his father said, sounding frustrated.

“And what about what I want? I don’t want to go to Milan! I’m sick and tired of being a model, I want to be a physics teacher!”

You could hear a pin drop after Adrien’s outburst. He was just as shocked as everyone else in the room, but he wasn’t going to back down. He didn’t want to live his life the way his father had planned it. He didn’t want to follow in Gabriel Agreste’s footsteps.

“That is out of the question!” Gabriel exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the table, making all of the dishes jump.

“Why?” Adrien demanded, clenching his fists under the table as Plagg tried to offer comfort through his pocket.

“Because you are my son and you will be following in my footsteps and that is the end of it!”

Adrien stood abruptly, his chair falling backwards onto the floor. “I’m not a puppet! I’m not going to make myself miserable just because you want me to follow in your footsteps. Yes, I’m your son, but only when it suits you and I’m sick of it!”

“Well if you’re so miserable then why are you still here? Nothing is forcing you to remain,” Gabriel replied, glaring at him.

Adrien paused and realised that his father was right, there was nothing stopping him. He was legally an adult and had his own bank accounts that his father couldn’t access so it’s not like he had no money. But could he walk away from his only remaining family?

Yes

“You’re right,” Adrien said, turning and leaving the dining room.

He quickly made his way to his room and grabbed a couple of duffle bags and started throwing stuff into them. He packed his school bag with his school gear and stuffed clothes and toiletries into the duffle bags. He walked around the room and picked up photos and items that held special meaning to him because he knew he wasn’t coming back.

“Kid, are you sure about this?” Plagg asked, sticking his head out of his pocket.

“Yeah I am, Plagg. It might be hard for a bit but we’ll be okay in the long run. And we’ll make a stop by the kitchen and grab all the camembert we can for you.”

“Go change,” Plagg ordered.

“What?”

“I said, go change. Take a shower and put on some clean clothes so that you can at least start your freedom fresh and clean.”

Adrien paused and looked down at his kwami, surprised by the suggestion. “That’s… a really good idea, Plagg, I’ll do that.”

Fifteen minutes later he was showered, changed, packed and making his way through the Paris streets to an alley where he could transform. In no time at all he was sitting on a roof staring at the Eiffel Tower, his bags beside him, wondering how his life could change so much in such a short period of time.

Looks like I’ll really be alone this Christmas, not just lonely in an almost empty house.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the sound of someone landing behind him.

“Chat?”

Blinking in surprise, Adrien spun around in his seat to see Ladybug standing a few feet away, worry evident on her face.

“My Lady? What are you doing out here on Christmas Eve?”

“I think I should be asking you that, Chaton. What’s with the bags?” she asked, pointed at the duffle bags next to him.

“Um, I kind of, left home?”

“You don’t sound so sure,” she said, coming to sit next to him.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Adrien tried to get his thoughts in order. “Well it hasn’t really felt like a home in a long time, really it was just a house, or museum.”

“What happened, Chaton?” she asked, taking his hand in both of hers.

Adrien glanced at her before facing forward. Frowning as he tried to make sense of the last few hours. “I had a fight with my father, I’d finally told him what I wanted to do with my life and he shut it down and told me if I was so miserable there then I should leave. So I did.”

Adrien heard Ladybug’s gasp but his eyes remained on the Eiffel Tower.

“Do you have somewhere to go?” she asked him.

Turning to look at her he gave her a small smile. “I’ll be okay, My Lady, I’ll find a hotel or something tomo-”

“No!”

“Huh?” Adrien watched as Ladybug got up and walked over to the duffel bags, planting her hands on her hips.

“You are not going to go and stay at a hotel by yourself, especially not on Christmas day!”

Standing up he made his way over to her. “Ladybug-”

“Tikki, spots off!”

Adrien froze, his mouth dropping open when the lights faded and before him stood Marinette, one of his closest friends and the girl he’d slowly fallen for.

He saw her kwami fly up to her while he was still struggling to find his voice. “Ma-”

“You can tell me off as much as you want, Tikki, but I’m not about to let him go through any of this alone!”

Adrien didn’t think, one second he was staring at the two arguing and the next he was holding Marinette, Ladybug, in his arms.

“I love you, Mari, I love you so damn much,” he managed to get out before the tears started overflowing.

“I love you too, Chaton,” she said, leaning back before lifting his face and holding his gaze. “You are going to come home with me, we’ll figure everything else out together. You can stay as Chat or you can transform, it’s completely up to you and I won’t mind whichever option you choose, okay?”

Gazing down at the woman in front of him Adrien couldn’t have been happier that it was Marinette beneath the mask. “Plagg, claws in,” he said, noting the surprise that flashed over her features before the light momentarily blinded them.

“Adrien?” she whispered.

“Yes, Mari?” he asked. Emotions flashed over her features too quickly for him to catch all of them but she seemed to settle on anger and something he couldn’t quite figure out.

“Adrien!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

For the first time that night, Adrien laughed. Wrapping his arms around her waist he lifted her and spun her around, the sound of her surprised shriek filling him with joy and a lightness he wasn’t expecting to feel when he’d walked out of the mansion. Keeping his arms around her waist, he held her off the ground so they were eye level.

“Are you planning on putting me down anytime soon?” she teased, and Adrien smirked.

“Wasn’t planning on it, no,” Adrien said, smiling widely when Marinette just rolled her eyes.

“Before you two get all mushy on us, maybe we can get somewhere safe?” Plagg said, zooming up to them with Tikki at his side.

“Good idea,” Marinette said, causing Adrien to sigh and reluctantly let go of her, pouting as she took a small step back.

“Come on, let’s go home. Tikki, spots on!”

Adrien watched as Marinette transformed before calling on his own transformation. Minutes later the two of them were jumping over rooftops with Adrien’s duffel bags.

Marinette paused on the roof across from her balcony and turned to him. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you mean?” Adrien asked, taking a step closer to her.

“It’s too late for us to walk in through the front door without my parents asking a lot of questions, but I don’t want to sneak you in. I want you to be part of everything, not be hidden away.”

Adrien didn’t remember moving, but suddenly he was holding Marinette, tears streaming down his face again.

“Oh, Kitty,” she whispered, hugging him back.

They stood like that for a while until Adrien composed himself and Marinette leaned back. “Come on, I know what to do.” Adrien followed her as they leapt onto her balcony, dropping into her room. He’d just placed his duffel bags on the chaise when Marinette grabbed him and dragged him out of her room.

“Maman? Papa? I know you’re still up, we’re coming down.”

Two hours later Adrien and Marinette were crawling into her bed. After revealing their identities to her parents they’d stayed up talking. Tom and Sabine were worried about the two of them being in constant danger but they promised to support them and help however they could. Plagg had been on his best behaviour and Tikki had finally been won over. Adrien had explained what had happened with his father and then had to restrain Marinette from going over and punching the man while Tom did the same with Sabine.

It was when Tom and Sabine were heading to bed that Adrien overheard Sabine whisper to Tom, “Hopefully the two of them will finally end up together now. If they get married then we don’t have to look into adopting Adrien so that he can officially be part of this family.” Adrien hadn’t known how to react so he’d just pretended he hadn’t heard and followed Marinette up to her room. He’d caught Plagg’s eye and knew that they’d both heard Sabine.

Now, lying in bed with Marinette in his arms and her head resting on his chest, Adrien felt happy. He couldn’t believe how much had happened in such a short period of time.

“I love you, Mari,” he whispered.

“I love you too, Adrien,” she replied, glancing up at him and smiling.

Leaning down he kissed her, before pulling her closer and closing his eyes. Content in a way he’d never been before.

Present Day

The door to the apartment slammed open, causing Adrien to lift his head and turn to the entrance. He smirked when he saw Alya and Nino standing there gobsmacked.

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This was my gift to chatbug

“Marinette, you’re missing the point!” Alya exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

“And what point would that be?” Marinette asked, raising her brow.

“That I’m trying to be romantic!”

“By sending Nino the twelve days of Christmas?”

“Yes! Don’t you know how the song goes? On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me a Partridge in a Pear Tree. The song itself mentions true love. How is that not romantic? I’m surprised you didn’t do it for Adrien considering how mushy you two are now that you’re finally together.” Alya huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Uh, maybe because six of the twelve days involve birds and Adrien is allergic to feathers?”

Alya blushed. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” She watched as Marinette smirked, but she refused to let it stop her. “But that’s still not the point, and don’t think I don’t realise that you at least thought about doing it!” she said, pointing her finger at her best friend who just blushed in response.

“Anyway, back to you and Nino. Why are you freaking out over this? What aren’t you telling me?”

Alya slumped and sat down next to Marinette. “I love him, Mari,” she whispered.

“I know you do, Al,” Marinette said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“The thing is, I haven’t told him that I love him,” she said, resting her head on her best friend’s shoulder.

“Ohhhh, so want to do a grand gesture and then tell him?” Marinette asked and Alya just nodded.

“There’s your problem.”

“Huh?” Alya asked, lifting her head to look up into Marinette’s smiling face.

“This is Nino we’re talking about. I’m not saying he wouldn’t like a grand gesture but I know he wouldn’t like you stressing out over this.”

Alya sighed. “I know you’re right, I do, but I just want to show him how much he means to me. We’ve all seen what Adrien-”

Marinette cut her off. “I’m going to stop you right there. Don’t compare yourself or your relationship with us, or anyone else. I love Adrien, you know I do, but do you know why I made him stop with the grand gestures?”

Alya snorted. “Because you were running out of space to store the gifts?” she teased.

They both had a giggle until Marinette sobered up. “Partly, but honestly? It was the reason behind why he did them.”

Alya frowned. “What do you mean?”

Marinette bit her lip before giving a nod and speaking again. “Please don’t repeat what I’m about to say, not even to Nino. It’s not that I don’t trust you two, but I’d rather Adrien tell Nino if he wants to.”

“I swear,” Alya promised.

“So you obviously know how he has the games and stuff in his room?”

Alya nodded when Marinette paused.

“Adrien was doing all of those grand gestures to show me that he loved me. I didn’t mind that but what bothered me was that he thought he had to do them. No, that doesn’t sound right. What I mean is, there’s no warmth in his house. His father barely talks to him let alone tells Adrien that he loves him. Instead, his father just bought him stuff like the games or a laptop or whatever. I think to some extent Adrien thought that the more expensive the gift, the more you loved the person you gave it to. When I ended up getting sick, Adrien came to visit me and because my parents were so busy in the bakery, mama asked him to bring me my medicine and soup. We talked and during the conversation I told him that him being there and looking after me was worth more than all the grand gestures and expensive gifts in the world.”

Alya sniffled, trying to resist the urge to demand Adrien come to her house so she could hug him. Or better yet, go to his house to not only hug him but punch Gabriel in the face. Adrien should know what love truly was. Marinette smiled at her, a knowing look in her eyes, but Alya could tell there was more she wanted to say so she just waited.

“I didn’t tell you this to upset you, or give you the urge to punch Gabriel in the face,” Marinette winked and Alya laughed at how well her best friend knew her. “I told you this because the point is, you don’t need a grand gesture to show someone you love them. It’s the little things, like getting them coffee when you know they’ve been up most of the night. Or bringing them soup when they’re sick. I know you want to do something romantic for Nino when you tell him you love him, but romantic doesn’t mean you have to go all out. It doesn’t mean that you have to stress yourself out preparing for the perfect moment to tell him you love him. I’m pretty sure that no matter what, when you tell Nino you love him that will be the perfect moment because of the two of you, and not what’s going on around you.”

Alya stopped and thought about Marinette’s words and realised she was right. “When did you end up being so wise and sappy?” She joked, nudging Marinette with her shoulder.

Marinette just laughed. “Have you forgotten how sappy and romantic my boyfriend is?”

The girls laughed but in the back of Alya’s mind a plan started to form.

Alya walked with Nino around the streets of Paris, one hand wrapped around his while the other carried a cup of hot chocolate. They were looking at the Christmas lights as they made their way to the park. Marinette and Adrien were going to meet up with them at the big Christmas tree but they still had time.

When they reached the park Alya smiled. Kids were running around laughing and playing, couples were snuggled up together under blankets and carollers were singing. Once she realised they were singing the Twelve Days of Christmas she couldn’t hold back her chuckle.

“What?” Nino asked as they continued walking, throwing away their empty cups when they passed a bin.

“It’s nothing,” she said, smiling over at him.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, just heard what song the carollers were singing.”

“Ah yes, the twelve days of Christmas, filled with six days of birds,” he said, pulling her closer to his side.

When she raised her eyebrow at him, he just chuckled. “Adrien and I were discussing Christmas songs during the week. He was telling me how he liked the fact that it’s about giving gifts to your true love, but not the fact that six of the days involve birds. Something about it no longer being romantic if he was sneezing every few seconds.”

They both burst out laughing and when Alya glanced over at Nino everything seemed to stop. They had moved out of everyone’s way when they had continued to laugh and were now closer to the trees where lights had been hung up. Nino had a huge smile on his face which seemed to glow from all of the Christmas lights around them. He’d traded his red cap for a red beanie which had a light cover of snow on it.

The world around them faded until all she could see, and all she cared about, was Nino. “I love you, Nino,” she said softly.

Surprise flashed over his features for split second before he smiled again and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I love you too, Alya,” he whispered in her ear, before turning and kissing her.

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Marinette entered her room through the skylight, dropping the transformation mid leap and landing on the floor next to her chaise. Adrien followed, but dropped his transformation and landed face down on her bed and groaned.

Before Marinette could say anything to him, Plagg flew up to her. “Excuse me, Your Cheesiness, but might I trouble you for some cheese?”

“Oh! Of course, I’m sorry, Plagg. Tikki has a hidden stash of cookies but I can’t hide cheese for you. I’ll be right back. Adrien, would you like anything?” She asked, turning to Adrien only to find him staring at his kwami with a strange look on his face.

Since he didn’t say anything, Marinette raced off to grab something for all of them. When she came back she was carrying a plate with croissants and a bowl of pretzel balls. “Here you are, Plagg,” she said, placing the bowl on her desk next to Tikki who was munching on chocolate chip cookies.

“Uh, thank you, Your Cheesiness, but what is this?” Plagg asked, looking confused and somewhat sad.

Marinette and Tikki both giggled. “Try one, Plagg,” she encouraged him while still holding the other plate.

She watched as Plagg ate a pretzel ball, his expression going from confusion to sheer joy. “They’re filled with cheese!”

Marinette laughed as he took another one. “Of course they are, Plagg. I made them for you yesterday and heated them up just now. They’re cheese stuffed pretzel bombs. I used different types of cheeses including camembert.”

“These are delicious!”

“I’m glad you like them. I can’t afford to use up all of the camembert we currently have since my parents need it for some of the recipes so that’s why I used different types of cheeses. Hopefully this is okay until the next order is delivered, I’ve added more cheese to that order so I can experiment some more and make treats for you,” she said, smiling at the other kwami.

“Y-You ordered more cheese? Just for me?” He whispered.

“Well of course! I’d like to be able to offer you some treats when you come to visit, not just cheese.”

“What’s wrong with just cheese, Marinette?” Tikki asked.

Marinette just shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with it, but all you do is take it out of a packet, there’s no real effort to it. I just don’t think it’s fair that we all get something that either me or my parents made and Plagg ends up with basically an ingredient. He should have something that was made with love too!”

All three stared at Marinette with shocked expressions on their faces. “What?” she asked in confusion.

Plagg flew up to her and hovered in front of her face. He opened and closed his mouth, looking like he wasn’t sure what to say so she just waited. However, she wasn’t expecting him to fly up to her face and hug her, purring loudly, before returning to his pretzel bombs without saying a word.

“What the hell was that, Plagg?” Adrien exclaimed from his spot on her bed.

Marinette just rolled her eyes. “Leave him alone, Adrien. You owe me some answers first.”

“Huh?”

Sighing, Marinette took the croissants and made her way to her bed, sitting next to Adrien and handing over a croissant.

“You want to tell me what that kiss was all about?” She asked, taking a bite of her croissant.

“Okay so I didn’t really think it all through, I just wanted everyone to know you were mine,” he pouted when he looked over at her.

Marinette rolled her eyes but before she could say anything, Adrien spoke again.

“Do you know how many guys have a crush on you?”

Marinette blinked in surprise. “Uh, no?”

Adrien snorted. “At least two or three per class.”

“That can’t be-”

“It’s true. You don’t notice them or give them the time of day so none of them have bothered making a move…yet.”

“So kissing me in front of everyone…”

“Was to make sure everyone found out that we were together.”

“And Chloe being there to see it?”

Adrien cringed. “To be honest, I didn’t notice her standing there when I first kissed you.”

“And you didn’t hear her shrieking?”

“I ignored everyone’s reactions during and after the kiss.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. I saw people from the other classes and thought that would be a good spot. I also saw Kim, Max, and Alix so I figured they’d ask us about the kiss when we got to class. My plan had been to catch Chloe before that and tell her you and I were dating and then when the three mentioned it, there’d be proof. She refuses to listen when I tell her that we’re just friends, nothing more, so I thought if everyoneknew as well, she wouldn’t argue as much.”

Marinette sighed. “Not sure that worked out so well considering she caused another akuma.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said forlornly.

“I’m sorry, Adrien. Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, running her hand through his hair.

“You’re here, that’s enough for now,” he said, closing his eyes and purring.

The next morning the four friends were sitting in their seats waiting for class to start. Adrien had called Marinette to make sure she was awake and then had picked her up on the way to school to ensure she’d be there on time. Her parents had been thrilled, both of them squealing when Marinette revealed that she and Adrien were now dating.

“It didn’t occur to you that she’d cause an akuma?” Nino asked in disbelief.

Adrien cringed. “Like I told Mari, I didn’t notice her standing there-”

“Which is almost worse,” Alya mumbled, but Adrien continued as if she’d never spoken.

“-I just saw people from other classes and Kim, Max, and Alix and thought there were enough people that the news would spread through the school quickly. I thought I’d be able to talk to Chloe before class.”

“Face it, Sunshine, you weren’t thinking. You just wanted to show everyone that has a crush on Mari that she was yours. She may not realise how many people have a crush on her but I’ve seen some of the others checking her out,” Alya said, smirking when Adrien blushed.

“Wait, what?” Marinette asked, looking from Alya to Adrien and back again. “You mean Adrien was right about that?”

Nino burst out laughing while Alya looked amused and Adrien looked slightly offended.

“Excuse you, of course I was right!”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Well excuse me for finding it hard to believe that you’d notice that when you didn’t even realise I had a crush on you.”

“Yeah, well…” Adrien sighed. “I have no way to counter that at all,” he admitted and they all laughed.

Once the laughter settled it was Alya who spoke up. “Sunshine’s obliviousness aside, there is a ridiculous amount of people, not just guys, who either had or still have a crush on you Mari. On one hand his stunt failed and there was an akuma, on the other hand he succeeded in making sure that everyone knows you two are together.”

“And what about Chloe? Or when his fangirls hear he has a girlfriend?” Marinette asked.

“I see a lot more akumas in our future,” Nino mumbled, and the other three agreed.

Suddenly Chloe and Sabrina entered the room. Marinette barely refrained from rolling her eyes at the glare that Chloe sent her way before she went and took her seat.

“Okay, what just happened? I was expecting her to explode,” Alya whispered, leaning closer to the boys.

“I ran into her when I went to get my homework out of my locker earlier,” Adrien whispered back, just loud enough for the other three to hear but not loud enough for anyone else.

“And, what happened?” Alya asked, lying on the table and moving closer, almost falling off the table in her eagerness.

Adrien leaned back, eyes wide. “Mari?”

Marinette sighed and rolled her eyes before gripping the belt loop at the back of Alya’s jeans, pulling her away from the boys and away from the danger of falling.

“Hey!” Alya protested.

“Hush, you. Adrien, you were saying?”

But before Adrien could continue the bell rang and the teacher entered the class.

“Lunch,” he said, turning to face the front.

At lunch the four friends were sitting under a tree in the park eating their sandwiches. Marinette had brought an extra sandwich for Adrien, knowing that his lunch would be sufficient for a model, but not for her partner.

“So tell us what happened with Chloe,” Nino said, taking another bite out of his sandwich.

“Well to say she wasn’t happy would be an understatement. She started going on and on about how she and I were meant to be and how Mari stole me away from her and all this other nonsense.”

“Oh please, you and Mari are meant to be together, anyone can see that!” Alya exclaimed.

“Well I told her that I love Mari and I’m not giving her up for any reason. I also told her that if she wants to be part of my life then she’ll have to accept that Mari isn’t going anywhere.”

Marinette froze, dazed at the fact that Adrien could so easily admit that he loved her.

All this time…

“What did she say to that?” Nino asked, oblivious to Marinette’s frozen frame.

“Nothing, she just froze and after a few minutes Sabrina joined her so I left.”

“You broke her, kinda like you just broke Marinette,” Alya declared and the boys quickly turned to Marinette who had yet to move.

“Mari?” Adrien asked, cupping her cheek.

Staring up in to his eyes, Marinette felt everything settle within her and smiled up at him. “I love you too,” she whispered.

Adrien’s eyes widened and she could almost see the moment he realised what he’d said and what she’d just declared. Adrien’s smile rivalled the sun as he pulled her into a hug, absolute joy in his laughter. After a few minutes he leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “Maybe Plagg’s right.”

“Huh? About what?” Marinette asked, confused. But Adrien just shook his head and gave her a chaste kiss.

“Come on, we need to get back to class,” Nino said and soon they had gathered their rubbish and were making their way back to school.

Adrien offered to take the rubbish to the bin, using the opportunity to whisper, “Hey, Plagg?”

“Yeah, kid?” Plagg replied, equally as quiet.

“I’m going to need your help.”

“With what?” Plagg asked suspiciously.

“With something very special for the Cheese Queen.”

“I’m in!”

Also on AO3

Thank you @giggling-bubble for letting me jump into your world and write a follow up to the awesome story - Frigid Kitty I hope I did it justice :-)

Marinette made her way along the streets of Paris. It was just as cold today so she had on her most comfortable boots over her tight, and warm, jeans. Under her Chat inspired coat she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt in a blue to match her eyes. Her scarf, beret and gloves were red, slightly darker than her Ladybug suit. Normally she avoided wearing a lot of the colour but she’d specifically worn it so that Tikki could hide around her neck and be part of the whole experience with choosing a ring. Tikki’s cookies were in the bag on her hip, along with her phone, keys, and wallet. As she rounded the corner, she caught sight of Adrien. He was wearing fitted jeans, a burgundy coat over a white jumper and the blue scarf she’d made him all those years ago. A year ago he’d found out who’d really gifted him the scarf and while he’d obviously been disappointed that it hadn’t come from his father, it had strengthened their friendship.

“Good morning, love bug. It’s been so long since I saw you last,” Adrien said once she stopped in front of him, smirking at her.

Marinette just rolled her eyes. “You saw me less than an hour ago when you and Plagg left to go home and change.”

“A lot could have happened during that time.”

“Such as?”

Adrien leaned closer, a mischievous smirk on his face. “Well for one thing, you could have changed out of that sexy cerulean blue lingerie set you were wearing earlier. So tell me, Mari, did you?”

Marinette squeaked, flushing red at not only Adrien’s expression and words, but at the way he practically purred as he spoke.

It’s just Chat, Adrien is Chat. You can talk to him!

Channelling Ladybug, Marinette leaned in a fraction, causing Adrien to blink and leaned back slightly. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” With that, she walked around him and headed for the jewellery store door, sharing quiet giggles with Tikki when she heard his sputter before it turned into a growl.

She had just reached the door when suddenly he was there, hand on the handle. “And how long do you plan on making me wait to find out, My Lady?” he asked, holding the door open for her.

“I’m sure you can wait until tonight, Chaton.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” he argued.

“Well you’ll have to. We have a busy day ahead of us, but I guess the sooner we get done the sooner we’ll have time to celebrate some more.” Marinette winked and entered the shop, smiling when Adrien laughed and followed her inside.

Ring shopping was harder than either of them imagined it would be. They had entered their third jewellers and Adrien tried to steer her towards the biggest and most expensive rings.

“Adrien, I don’t want an expensive ring,” she whisper yelled to him.

“But I just want you to have the best,” he whined.

“The best doesn’t mean the biggest or most expensive,” she objected.

“But—”

“Nope. You decide, do you want everyone to know that I’m taken or not?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Adrien frowned. “Of course I do! What kind of question is that?”

“A simple one. I refuse to wear a ridiculously expensive ring that I’ll constantly be worried I will lose. You buy an expensive ring and I won’t wear it, it will live in the safe and I will walk around with no ring on my finger. Is that what you want, Chaton?”

Adrien was practically growling by that point. “No. Fine, you win. No crazy expensive engagement ring.”

“Thank you,” Mari said, smiling brightly at him.

After spending most of the morning going from one big name jeweller to another, they found a little out-of-the-way place.

“Should we look in here?” Marinette asked.

“I think so,” Tikki pipped up from her spot.

Adrien once again held the door open for her, “After you, My Lady.”

“Thank you, Chaton.”

“Good afternoon there, my name is Phillipe. Is there anything I can help you with?” The older gentleman that greeted them had a kind smile on his face. He looked like the kind of man who doted on his grandkids and smiled a lot. Marinette automatically smiled back, a sense of something filling her.

“Hello, we’re looking for an engagement ring. However my lovely fiancée hasn’t been able to find one that suits her,” Adrien replied, his public persona taking over.

“Ah, is there something in particular that you’re looking for?”

“I don’t want a ring that’s so expensive that I’ll be scared to leave the house with it on. I’m just looking for something simple, but unique,” Marinette said, smiling at Phillipe.

“Hm, well we do have a number of rings that are a one-off design that you might be interested in. Please, follow me,” he said, leading them around to another cabinet.

As Adrien and Phillipe chatted, Marinette browsed until something caught her eye. “Can I see that one?” she asked, pointing at the display.

“Of course,” Phillip replied, getting the ring while Adrien came over to stand beside her. She hadn’t asked to see a lot of the rings, there was always something about them she didn’t like, but if her suspicions were correct, she’d just found her ring.

“What we have here is a channel set princess cut diamond in white gold,” Phillipe explained, handing the ring over to Marinette.

“A princess cut for my Princess,” Adrien whispered only loud enough for Marinette to hear.

Bringing the ring up close, she saw that her suspicions were correct. “It has paw prints.”

“What?” Adrien asked, moving closer to inspect the ring.

“Yes, there is a paw print on either side of the diamond. Unlike a lot of the other channel set princess cut rings which have a number of diamonds on the band as well, this ring just has the one. People either want more diamonds or don’t like the paw prints.” Phillipe explained.

“It’s perfect,” Marinette whispered, looking up at Adrien.

He smiled, taking the ring out of her fingers. “Only one more thing to check,” he said, taking her hand and sliding the ring on her finger. “Perfect fit.” Kissing her hand like he usually did, Adrien smiled before turning to Phillipe. “We’ll take it!”

Marinette and Adrien stood in her kitchen waiting for her parents to arrive so they could tell them the news. After purchasing the ring, Phillipe had placed it in a lovely ring box and Adrien had taken her to where she’d first crashed into him and tangled them up in her yoyo all those years ago. There he got down on one knee and proposed, sliding the ring back onto her finger.

As they’d made their way to the bakery they had decided to tell everyone that they’d been secretly dating for a few years. They’d kept it a secret because of Adrien’s father and because they didn’t want anyone to accuse Marinette of getting a job because she was dating Adrien. Now that she’d secured a job at Gabriel based on her designs and portfolio they were ready to reveal their relationship and engagement.

“How are we going to tell Alya and Nino?” Marinette asked, munching on a cookie. After they’d arrived, Marinette had taken her bag and jacket to her room, along with cookies and cheese for the kwamis. She’d come back down to snag a cookie before starting on a pot of hot chocolate for the four of them.

“Hm, I’ve got an idea, hold your hand against your sweater. Or better yet, against mine,” Adrien leapt off the stool and went over to Marinette, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“What are you up to?” She asked, putting her hand on his chest.

“Okay, you take the photo since you can see better.”

Shaking her head she took him phone and took a photo of her hand before handing his phone back.

“Okay but really, what are you going to do?”

“Break Instagram and Twitter,” he replied, fingers flying over the keyboard.

“Huh?”

Handing over his phone once again, Adrien bounced in place, a cheeky Chat Noir grin on his face. Steeling herself Marinette looked at his phone and her jaw dropped. There was the picture of her hand on his chest, ring glowing with a very simple caption of She said YES! #LuckiestManInParis #TheFutureMrsAgrest

“Alya is going to kill you,” she whispered and he just burst into laughter, grabbing her in a hug and spinning her around.

“Marinette?” Sabine asked, walking into the kitchen with her father right behind her. “What’s going on?”

Adrien put her down but kept his arms around her waist. Marinette turned to her right and opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. She could hear Adrien trying not laugh and was sorely tempted to kick him.

Channel Ladybug. Channel Ladybug

Taking a deep breath, Marinette blurted out, “Adrien and I have been secretly dating for years and yesterday he asked me to marry him and I said yes but Alya and Nino don’t know and now they’re going to find out because Adrien put a photo of the ring on Instagram and Twitter and they’re going to kill us for not telling them.”

She watched as her parents blinked and tried to make sense of what she’d blurted out. Adrien was chuckling next to her but she didn’t take her eyes off her parents. Her mother was the first to decipher what Marinette said and then she was squealing and running towards them, arms wide open as she threw them around her and Adrien.

“You’re getting married! Oh this is fantastic! I had always hoped you two would get together, you’re going to give us such adorable grandchildren!”

As her mother continued squealing, her father came to join in on the group hug. “This is fantastic news indeed. Let’s see the ring, Mari.”

After Marinette showed off her ring, Adrien showed them what he’d put up on social media. There were already hundreds of messages asking who the lucky woman was. He’d even had a number of missed calls, mainly from Alya and Nino.

“A lot of people are offering their congratulations, Chloe is exploding, and the rest want to know who Mari is,” he told her parents.

“Oh this is so exciting! Oh! I need to ring and tell the family!” With one final hug to each of them, Sabine ran off to start ringing the extended family to tell them the good news.

“Welcome to the family, son!” Tom said, lifting Adrien up into a bear hug.

“Thank you, Sir,” Adrien replied as his feet touched the ground.

“None of this Sir nonsense, just call me Tom.”

“Alright, Tom.”

“Now, if you kids will excuse me, I need to get back to the shop since I don’t think Sabine will be back anytime soon.”

“Do you need a hand, Papa?”

“No, Mari, you two stay here and be ready for when Alya arrives. I’m sure that it won’t take her long, especially if neither of you are replying to her.” With that sound piece of advice, her father winked at them and left.

“So,” Adrien said, stepping closer to her and wrapping his arms around her waist again as she wrapped hers around his neck. “That went well.”

“Did you think it wouldn’t?” she asked, running her fingers over the hair on his nape.

Adrien just shrugged. “There was a possibility.”

“Maybe, but considering we’ve always been close friends and the fact that I’ve had a crush on you for years I guess it’s not that unbelievable to them.”

“Now we just have to survive an Alya interrogation.”

Marinette groaned and let her head fall against his chest. “Don’t remind me.”

“Hey, Mari?”

“Yeah?”

Adrien moved his hand to her chin, gently forcing her to lift her head until their gazes locked. “I love you,” he said, then lowered his head and kissed her.

“Dude!”

“Mari? You’re the future Mrs Agreste? When the fuck did that happen?”

Also on AO3

Marinette yawned as she walked into class with minutes to spare wishing she had stopped to get a cup of coffee on the way. She had stayed up late to finish the homework she hadn’t done over the weekend. After accidentally revealing herself to her partner and then finding out his identity, she hadn’t been able to focus on anything else all weekend. They’d spent a lot of time talking and eventually realised that they’d both fallen for each other’s civilian and superhero sides, making the reveal the best thing to happen to them. Adrien wasted no time in asking her out and she didn’t hesitate in saying yes.

Marinette yawned again as she started to walk up the steps beside Adrien’s desk when suddenly she was falling. Yelping, she threw her hands in front of her to stop the inevitable crash. What she wasn’t expecting was to end up sitting in Adrien’s lap.

Blinking she turned to look at him, belatedly realising that his arms were wrapped around her waist. As he smiled at her his eyes twinkled, mischief evident in them but in her half asleep state she couldn’t figure out what was amusing him.

“Good morning, Mari,” he said smiling.

“Good morning, Adrien,” she replied.

Adrien leaned around her to grab something from his desk and then held it out to her. Looking down she saw it was a takeaway cup of coffee.

“Oh, thank you!” she exclaimed, taking the cup in both hands and then giving Adrien a quick kiss before leaning against him. Bringing the cup to her lips, she took a sip, humming in contentment.

As she slowly started to wake up she saw that the entire class was staring at her, frozen in shock. Suddenly her actions caught up with her and she realised she was still sitting on Adrien’s lap. She could hear Adrien trying to muffle his snickers.

I’m going to kill that cat!

“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Chloe screeched, and Marinette winced at the pitch and volume.

And then Adrien spoke up and Marinette wished she had actually slept in like normal. “My lovely girlfriend is a little sleep deprived it seems.”

I’m definitely going to kill that cat!

Mariette closed her eyes and drank some more coffee as the class erupted into chaos.

“Dude!”

“Girlfriend?!”

“ADRIKINS!”

Rules: Post the last sentence you wrote and tag as many people as there are words!

The awesome @freedom-shamrock tagged me so here is my sentence :-)

“Why?” Adrien demanded, clenching his fists under the table as Plagg tried to offer comfort through his pocket.

I’m supposed to tag 18 people but I’ll only tag a few and even then, no pressure!

Also on AO3

The sound of a phone ringing had Adrien groaning awake. Blinding reaching for the phone he finally managed to get a grip on it, answering it without bothering to check the caller id.

“Hello?” he asked, his voice still full of sleep.

There was silence on the line before he heard the sound of muffled voices on the other end.

“Hello?” he asked again.

“Dude?”

“Oh, hey, Nino, what’s up?”

“Uh…”

“Oh, it’s Christmas! Merry Christmas, Nino!” Adrien exclaimed, waking up fully.

“Yeah, Merry Christmas, dude.”

Adrien frowned. “Nino? Are you alright? You sound, I don’t know, off for some reason.”

“Well, you see-” Nino started to say, but was cut off by Alya’s familiar voice yelling in the background. “Give me that phone!”

After what he assumed was a brief struggle over possession of the phone, Alya started screaming down the line. “Agreste, why are you answering Marinette’s phone?!”

“Huh?” Holding the phone away from his ear he realised that it wasn’t his phone he’d picked up.

“What’s going on?” Marinette mumbled from beside him.

Glancing down he saw Marinette trying to fight off sleep, but struggling. His heart melted at the sight of her snuggled into his side.

“Adrien?” she prompted.

“Right, sorry. I woke up when I heard the phone ringing and I answered it but it wasn’t my phone, it was yours and now Alya is yelling,” he quickly explained.

Marinette held out her hand for her mobile which he gladly passed over, Alya still screaming on the other end. Adrien gasped when all Marinette did was hang up. Seconds later the phone started ringing again and Marinette picked it up, speaking immediately. “Good morning, Merry Christmas, we love you, we’re going back to sleep, bye,” she said, hanging up again before passing the phone back to Adrien.

“Damn, Princess, Alya’s going to murder you for that.” He paused and pouted. “No fair, we only just officially started dating!” Marinette snorted and snuggled back against him. “She won’t kill us, she doesn’t have the ability to transport herself here and their families are not getting back for a week. She’ll calm down by then.”

Adrien laughed, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “I love you, Mari.”

“I love you too, Adrien. Now go back to sleep.”

Quietly chuckling, Adrien closed his eyes and allowed her breathing to lull him back to sleep.

Hours later Adrien and Marinette were cuddling on one couch while her parents were cuddled on another. Tikki and Plagg were snuggled up on a specially made kwami pillow on the table where they had easy access to cookies and cheese. The six of them were all watching Christmas movies after the big breakfast they’d had, everyone too full to move. Adrien sighed in pure contentment. From what should have been a terrible Christmas, his worst one yet, it had turned into the best one he could have ever imagined. And it was all thanks to the woman in his arms.

My Marinette My Lady My Princess My Fiancée

Tightening his arms around her a tiny bit more, Adrien didn’t think anything could make the moment any more perfect.