Chapter 1
Paris is famous for it's beauty, culture and history. It's been the jewel in the crown of Europe for the last thousand years or so, but to Marinette it was simply the place she called home. She couldn't deny how special it is, but still Paris isn't all it's cracked up to be. Most of the streets are covered in litter, packed with tourists and most streets smelled like either piss or pollution.
But it was her home and she was going to protect it.
From anyone.
Marinette had given up on trying to ignore the regular 3am slam of the front door of her family's apartment.
It was the fate of a baker to wake up painfully early to get ready for the 6am rush. Why couldn't people come in later in the day, or perhaps just come at a more saintly morning hour to bother her family's business. Her father told her to be thankful that so many people regularly came to their bakery.
And she was thankful, that every morning there was a line outside their door waiting for them to open, but Marinette could rarely go back to sleep after hearing the front door slam closed.
She rolled over, pulling her bed sheets closer to her body, trying not to wake Tikki. She pulled her phone out from under her pillow and pressed the power button, wincing as the bright light blinded her.
3:02am on the dot.
She turned her phone back off and slid it under her sheets, out of sight. Grabbing her pillow, she cradled it tightly in her arms. Sleep, think of sleeping thoughts and you won't lay awake again for hours.
She lay there for what seemed like days listening to Tikki's soft breathing next to her but she just couldn't fall back to sleep.
The thought of getting out of bed at 3am on a school day made her want to cry, especially since the weather was starting to turn colder and colder as the summer weather passed. She could feel the chill of the morning on her cheek and the tip of her nose. Her blankets offered her warmth and protection, but they couldn't comfort the irritation of lying in bed wide-awake.
She groaned as she pulled the blankets off her body and felt her warmth evaporate away, replaced with biting cold. She tried not to disturb Tikki as she climbed out of her nest of blankets but it was no use, she saw one tiny blue eye crack open.
"Marinette?" Tikki moaned, "What's wrong?" She didn't bother looking up at Marinette as she climbed down the ladder of her loft bed.
"It's nothing Tikki, go back to sleep." Marinette whispered, holding in a gasp as she placed her bare foot on the cold wooden floor. Frantic, she looked around for slippers or a pair socks, anything to protect her from the cold bite of the wood flooring.
She could hear the fairy shift and sigh, and then the return of her deep breathing.
Marinette felt the smile grow on her face as she pulled on a pair of socks and slipped her feet into a pair of slippers. The bedroom lit up by the full moon, casting long shadows over her floor. She started to look for a pair of pants and a sweater, trying not to wake her Kwami again.
Sometimes she wished she had her old life again, having privacy was nice but she was glad the Kwami came into her life. Even if she hogged the pillow at night and was often offering unsolicited advice, but still, having someone in her life that knew everything about her regular and secret life comforted Marinette in moments like this. That indeed she was a superhero and that she was the pride of Parisians everywhere.
She reminded herself that over and over again as she pulled on her thickest sweater and pulled her hair back, closing the hatch to her room as gently as she could to not wake Tikki.
I am Ladybug.
She pulled her sweater tighter to her body and descended the stairs slowly, letting loose a yawn.
I am Ladybug, loved by all of Paris.
She pulled the front door closed as softly as she could.
I am a superhero. I can handle this.
She slapped herself a few times on the cheeks and opened the back door to the bakery, blinded by the bright light of the kitchen.
Her father stared back at her, a sleepy haze over his face until his recognition flashed in his eyes and they become clear, a sleepy smile broking out onto his face.
"Good morning sweetheart! Came to help your old dad out again?"
"You know it, want some coffee?"
"Yes. Yes please."
She couldn't help the yawn that erupted from her mouth for a third time. She could feel the early morning rise take it's toll on her. She hadn't gone to bed at the earliest time last night, she was up till midnight working on some last minute homework that she had neglected over the weekend.
She placed her head on her desk and felt the cold wood bite back at her warm skin. She was wearing her warmest, albeit ugly, sweater she owned. A black, over sized thing with a high turtleneck that she could hide her face and flour caked clothes with. The bakery had been busier than she had ever seen before when she opened the doors this morning. Busy enough she didn't have time to change into clean clothes but just enough time to change into her ugliest sweater.
She groaned and pulled her turtleneck further up to hide her face.
Just her luck.
More of her classmates came into the room and said good morning, but all she could muster in response was propping her head up on the desk with her hand and offering a weak smile and wave. She really wasn't feeling her usual chipper self, stifling a fourth yawn.
For a hero with the power of luck Marinette figured that some of that luck would have transferred over to her to her civilian self. Marinette had never been lucky, and she figured she would never be.
She closed her eyes and tried to resist the urge to put her head down and take a nap when she heard his voice.
Her heart quickened, and she cursed herself for being so easily manipulated by her crush.
Nino and Adrien entered the classroom together. Marinette recognized immediately that Adrien was wearing the featured jacket from his father's Fall line. It was the most beautiful shade of maroon that made his blond hair glow like a halo over his face, and made his bright green eyes pop. And the detailing on the jacket's seams was enough to make her cry, let alone the way it fit him. She was almost too distracted by it's fine tailoring to notice that Adrien had spoken to her.
"Good morning Marinette." He smiled at her, and it was enough to make Marinette's whole body blush. She resisted the urge to sit straight up and pull the collar all the way up to cover her whole face.
"Go-Good morning." She stuck her hands in-between her thighs to keep them from shaking. Her knee began to bounce and she slammed her hand down on it to stop her fidgeting.
She was so caught up in herself that she didn't notice Adrien take his seat in front of her.
Again, she had lost her chance again to talk to Adrien due to her own body's ridiculous reaction to his stupid, beautiful face.
She groaned under her breath and pulled her collar up to hide her face, resting her head in her arms on her desk, hiding from the rest of the world. She already wishing the day was over and back in bed.
"Dear God Marinette, what are you wearing?"
Marinette's body quickly shut down from the high of seeing Adrien, and a knot of dread formed in her stomach. She had hoped Chloe wouldn't have noticed just how ugly her sweater was, but hope just wasn't going to cut it this morning.
"Just leave me alone Chloe."
Ever since she become Ladybug, Marinette didn't let Chloe walk all over her like she used to. But that didn't stop Chloe from trying to assert herself over Marinette, every day, ruthlessly.
"What's wrong Marinette? Too tired from sleeping in an alleyway to fight back this time?" Marinette didn't bother looking up at Chloe. "Obviously that's where you found a homeless man wearing that awful sweater, you had to steal it off his back huh? Pathetic." Chloe laughed.
Marinette had full intention to just keep ignoring Chloe until she got bored and left her alone, or the teacher came into the room, whatever came first. But Marinette suddenly heard a crash and her eyes snapped open and looked at Chloe.
The first thing she noticed was that Chloe was wearing the female version of Adrien's jacket, in that same beautiful shade of maroon that looked suddenly less like a plum color to old blood. The second thing she noticed is that Chloe's face was curled into a satisfied smile. Third thing she noticed was that her bag had been knocked over and spilled open on the bottom floor of the steps.
Marinette's first reaction was tears, but she held them and let fury replaced them.
"Go collect your hobo stuff, you're offending my poor Adrien's eyes!" Chloe brushed past Marinette and sat herself down next to Adrien, grabbing his arm and snuggling close against him.
The classroom was dead silent, and made no move to help Mariette pick up her stuff. Slowly she slid out from behind her desk and walked down the stairs and started to collect her things. Her body burned from embarrassment and fury. Fury at Chloe, at herself for not standing up for herself and punching Chloe in the face, and at everyone else for not doing anything.
But it hurt too, because Adrien hadn't said a word.
As Marinette zipped up her backpack she looked up at Adrien. He was looking back at her with pity in those green eyes, but made no move to shove Chloe off his arm and help her.
She bit back the tears that threatened to come back and went back to her seat, making sure to put her bag out of Chloe's wrath.
The pit in her stomach threatened to swallow her alive and the class erupted into whispers about what had just happened. Chloe started to say something to Adrien, about how much better she was then Marinette, but Marinette didn't listen. She clenched her fists and held back the sob that threatened to come out.
"Whoah, girl are you okay?"
Marinette's stomach unclenched and she loosened her fists. She swallowed back the tears the best she could and tried to talk to her best friend as calmly as possible.
"Not really, Chloe has already started off being a royal jerk this morning." Marinette glared at the back of platinum blonde's head.
Alya laughed, obviously in a good mood. Marinette couldn't help feeling better when she saw her smile, even if she still could bust out in tears at any moment.
"Well, that's to be expected, she is a royal pain in the ass. But I have some great news!" Alya reached into her bag and pulled out her cellphone, pulling up an email and shoved it into Marinette's hands.
"I've been invited to become a intern reporter at the news station!" Alya shouted, and suddenly the whole class was listening to their conversation and erupted into a confused chatter.
Everyone got out of their seats and rushed over to their desk, eager to ask questions.
"What's so great about that? I can be on TV whenever I want!" Chloe huffed, but around her everyone ignored her. She squealed, pulling an uncomfortable looking Adrien closer to her. He smiled meekly at her and tried to get her to let go of him.
"Whoa, Alya that's amazing!" Mariette shouted over the questions of her classmates, looking at the email, which just consisted of large words saying 'Congratulations!' for the most part. Excitement for her best friend over took her sadness and distracted her from her own heartache.
"That is so awesome! Does this mean you're going to be on TV?" Nino grabbed her shoulders from behind and gave her a thumb's up.
"Maybe," She grinned back at him and winked at him, taking her cellphone back from Marinette. "I'm the youngest intern they've ever had but they were so impressed with the Ladyblog that they offered me to make my own segment for the news!"
Everyone around them erupted into wows and cheers, but Marinette suddenly didn't feel so happy anymore. Panic for her friend and her secret identity was suddenly the only thing that she could think about. Alya was ruthless about finding out her identity already with just her cellphone and her blog, which had already resulted in some close calls. But a whole news channel giving her high tech resources and the means to expose her to all of Pairs in a matter of seconds? That didn't sound so great for Ladybug or Marinette.
"Wait, Alya. Is this safe? Are you sure, you are already so busy-"
The bell cut off Marinette's sentence and the class groaned and filed back to their desks as the teacher entered the classroom, shouting for everyone to take their seats and pull out their books.
Chloe unglued herself from Adrien's arm and blew a kiss at him as she took her seat across from to him.
Marinette, to overwhelmed at everything that had happened before 8am, that she didn't notice when Adrien glanced back at her with sorry eyes.
"Ugh, Nino I feel awful."
"I know bro, what you did was awful." Nino took another bite out of his sandwich, the two stood at the curb waiting for Gorilla to pick Adrien up for lunch.
"Like bro, did you see her face when she looked at you!?" Nino swallowed the bite of his sandwich and took another large bite, "I would have been crushed if I was her! And you totally didn't even make a move to help her."
When Nino talked with his mouth full of food it normally disgusted Adrien, but this time his own self-hatred distracted him from his best friends poor manners.
"I couldn't just shove Chloe off me Nino! You know she was my first friend-" Adrien grabbed his head and groaned loudly, drawing the eyes of students to them.
"Dude, you keep saying Chloe's your friend but she really isn't." Nino wiped at the snot dripping down his face with his sleeve, the cold wind whipping them both in the face. It turned out to be much colder for an October day then anyone could have expected.
Adrien pulled his jacket closer to his body, trying not to shiver.
"You're all about this whole 'making friends' thing but you're not being a real friend to anyone if you don't stand up for them when they're being bullied." Nino swallowed his bite of sandwich and leaned in for another bite when Adrien grabbed him by the shoulders.
Adrien looked wide-eyed at Nino, panic written all over his face. Blond hair flying in every direction the wind took it. It was the least composed Nino had ever seen Adrien before.
"What do you mean bullied?" Adrien's face made Nino start to pull back.
"Yeah…Bro, didn't you know? That's like what Chloe does. She's like, the class bully."
Adrien stayed silent, eyes wide.
Nino took a step back, quickly shoving the leftover sandwich back into its plastic bag. Adrien's car pulled up in front of them, but Adrien made no move to get inside.
"But we all deal with it," Nino threw his backpack back on his shoulder and pulled his sweatshirt hood up to cover his head. "Marinette normally gets the worst of it, but she's started standing up for herself, so it's not so pitiful to watch."
Nino starts to walk back to the school steps, but then stops. Adrien hasn't made a move to get into his car.
"The thing is, I'm not sure if that was a smart thing to do or not."
Nino looked back at Adrien and waved at him.
"See you after lunch bro!"
Natalie pushed open the door from the back, "Adrien get inside the car."
He snapped out of his haze and climbed wordlessly into the back of the car, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Natalie made no move to talk to him as the car started up, and he appreciated it.
He knew what Chloe was doing was wrong. And he wanted to help Marinette, but he had hesitated. Maybe because Chloe was all over him, maybe because he was afraid of Chloe being mad at him, or maybe it was just because he was afraid.
But when she looked up at him with those tired, sad eyes he instantly regretted everything. The look in her eyes crushed him and he hadn't been able to think about anything else after that moment.
He clenched his fists on his new jacket, not noticing that the car had pulled up in front of his house.
When Adrien returned to school after lunch, he had changed his jacket and had the full intention to apologize to Marinette.
But he didn't spot her during lunch. He found Alya, but she said she went home for lunch and hadn't come back yet. The bell rang, bringing everyone back to the classroom where Adrien waited for Marinette to walk through the door but she never did. The final bell rung and class started but Marinette was nowhere to be seen.
It made the knot in his stomach that much tighter, and he swore he would set things right.
Marinette had every intention to return to school that day but when she collapsed on her couch and burst out sobbing when her mom asked her about school, she decided to take a mental health day.
Marinette put on her pajamas and climbed into bed, pulling her hair out of her signature pigtails and covering her entire body in blankets.
"Marinette, why do you let Chloe get to you?" Tikki whispered as she nuzzled Marinette's face, trying to comfort her.
Marinette instantly frowned and uncovered the blanket covering her head and pushed Tikki away from her. Marinette thought she was done crying but the tears threatened to come back.
"What do you mean, let her get to me?" Marinette threw her pillow at Tikki as tears filled her eyes, "I didn't do anything to Chloe but yet she attacks me! Harasses me and I can't do anything. If I told the teacher what's happening to me I'll get expelled just like Alya was. But this time Ladybug won't be there to fix the situation!"
Tikki's eyes go wide and she flies away from Marinette.
Marinette instantly deflates, "I'm so sorry Tikki." She whispers, "This has nothing to do with you but I snapped at you and I'm sorry."
Marinette grabs another pillow and clutches it at her chest. Tikki flies over and sits on her shoulder.
" Oh Marinette, please don't be sad." Tikki wipes away at Marinette's tears and Marinette looks down at her Kwami. "If you want I can pretend to be a ghost and scare her?" Tikki offered, giving her best ghost impression.
Marinette chuckles, "No that's okay."
She sat there on her bed for a while before a plan started to grow in her head on the perfect way to get revenge on Chloe Bourgeois.
A smile erupts from Marinette's face, "No, I have a much better idea Tikki."
Hi guys, long time no fanfiction! ha ha haha ha. Just kidding.
My plan for this fanfiction is to focus more on serious situations that could arise from balancing a double life. I'm not 100% sure if there is going to be sex or gore in this so just to be safe I picked a M rating. But to be honest I'm fucking 20 years old and writing about a kids show, so you bet your sweet feet there might be some smooches. I'll probably update a whole bunch while I'm still obsessed, currently I write this between classes at University. But I'm sure as my followers know, I don't write short stories.
Comment, Favorite and Follow!
(Yeah and okay I know there are some spelling mistakes and typos but cut me some slack it's just me and spell check people, geez)