It was Friday. Their one week anniversary. Seven days since getting together. The ending of the best week of Adrien's life. And he was in Marinette's bedroom, enveloped in pink and fabric and the smell of cookies, spinning on her desk chair as she redecorated.
He'd spent every spare moment this week with her, getting to know her as one whole instead of two halves, piecing together everything he'd ever known about his partner and his classmate into one amazing person. It was easy now, seeing them as one, finding Ladybug's grace in Marinette and Marinette's passion in Ladybug.
Last Saturday, the first time he'd come by, he was delighted to see dozens of pictures of Cat Noir staring back at him. His girlfriend (his girlfriend!) had kissed him mercilessly to stop the flow of teasing, and when that hadn't worked, she'd asked him how much Ladybug merchandise he had stashed away in his room. That had.
Today, her walls had been bared and re-covered. Piles of his pictures were stacked in a neat line across her desk – pictures from photo shoots, magazines, news reports, and some she'd taken herself. Pictures of Adrien and pictures of Cat Noir. Evidence that she wanted a constant reminder of his existence, which made him smile.
There were so many pictures, and he wasn't sure where they'd all come from. The printer hummed in the background, printing off more images of the super duo together, the only category that was lacking. Soon, there would be more pictures of him on her walls than pink, and that was saying something.
On the other side of the room, Marinette pushed her dress form aside to reveal one of the few remaining bare patches. He watched as she held up two more pictures against the wall, then switched their position and nodded.
"Could you hand me more of that tacky stuff, Kitten?"
Adrien rolled himself over to her, holding out his bounty proudly. "You want some help?"
"I've got it handled," she said, bending over and brushing his hair out of the way to she could give him a quick peck on the forehead. "But thanks for volunteering."
Marinette turned to attack the naked wall, and Adrien was left to slowly roll himself back to his designated spot. He watched her work the whole way, until his chair smashed into the desk and one of the picture piles spilled into the floor.
"Sorry, sorry!" He scrambled to pick them up. Thankfully, he'd only knocked over the smallest one, the last in the line.
"Did you just crash because you were staring at me again?" Marinette asked without turning around.
Adrien cleared his throat and shuffled the pictures loudly to fill up the silence. Marinette chuckled.
He was going to stack them back neatly for her, but as he thumbed through the pictures, his breath caught. Their very first kiss, during the fight with Dark Cupid. The one Tom snuck a photo of two days ago. The one Alya had insisted on taking when they first told her they were together. (Marinette had snuck a kiss on his cheek just as the shutter closed.)
The first paparazzi photo of Ladybug and Cat Noir kissing. Rumors had been swirling for a whole 24 hours before reporters had managed to corner them. To answer, Ladybug had dipped him in front of a dozen cameras – and then had to hold him up to hide that his knees had gone weak.
At the bottom of the pile was the one he'd taken so long ago. They were in each others' arms in front of park fountain after spending hours just talking. The peace he'd felt that night was evident across his face, and the echo of it was still strong enough to slow down his awareness of the present, while the image of Ladybug held his attention.
Ladybug, who he could clearly see as Marinette. Ladybug, wearing her widest, most beautiful smile. Ladybug, who let herself be nestled into his arms, eyes bright, moonlight in her hair. It had been the first time they'd stayed out that late together. The first time his flirting had made her blush.
Joy was radiating off her face.
She had that look a lot now, and he was humbled that he was part of the reason, then and now.
He knew she'd had the picture up next to her bed at one point, but here it was, corners curling, removed from its special spot and at the bottom of the smallest pile. The pile at the very edge of her desk, the very last stack of pictures she was planning to put up.
As an afterthought? If she had room? Why leave them for the end? Niggling doubts told him that it was because she didn't like them as much, that she was only including them because she thought he expected her to include them and she could live without having them.
Adrien put the pile down gently, taking his time to square up the corners, then slowly lowered himself back into the chair and pushed himself away from them before he continued his twirl.
He was being stupid. This was her room. She could decorate it however she wanted. His thoughts spiraled with him as he spun in her chair and stared at the ceiling. Who was he to tell her which pictures he wanted up? What right did he have to be so demanding and needy?
Soft footsteps were the only warning he had before his knee hit her leg and sent his spin drifting in the other direction. Marinette had entered his space, and she was decorated with a frown and crossed arms.
"Okay," she said. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Adrien forced a perky smile.
Marinette put her hands on her hips, unimpressed.
"Really." He shrank back into the chair. "Everything's fine. Just…" Looking around the room didn't give him any inspiration for what he "just" was. "Just waiting for you to finish."
That was true. He was waiting for her to finish. And nothing was wrong. The pictures shouldn't be a big deal. They were just decoration, and he knew that she loved him. It didn't mean anything.
Marinette hesitated, her eyes flickering from his face to his hunched shoulders. Adrien strained to relax them but only made himself sink lower into the chair.
"Okay, if you insist," she said, shrugging and turning away from him. "I'm going to trust that you're being honest with me."
His guilt only let her get two steps away before it forced him to say, "Wait."
She turned back to him, looking down on him where he sat, expecting him to tell her something important – that was worth being bothered about – and Adrien wanted to swallow his words. This was so stupid.
"Hey. Look at me." Marinette's padded toward him in pink socks, but didn't stop when she reached his chair. Instead, he stared at her knees as she settled her weight on his lap and took his face in her hands.
"Please forget it," he said, counting her freckles instead of looking in her eyes. "It's dumb."
"That's fine," she promised. "But you aren't dumb for being upset."
Marinette's hands, warm and reassuring, never left his face as she waited. She wouldn't have asked if she didn't want to know, he reasoned. It was okay to ask for things like this. If his request was over the line, she could say no. There really was no excuse not to. So why was getting the words out so difficult? She wasn't like that.
Marinette's thumb idly brushing over his lips was so distracting that he almost missed the tiny shifts of her weight on his lap, the twitches of her feet, how her breathing was slightly uneven. She was nervous. And that was finally what broke him.
Here she was, thinking she'd done something to upset him, and trying to coax it out of him anyway. She really was too good for him.
Her shirt was soft under his palms as he slipped his hands around her waist to keep her steady and then rolled them back toward her desk. Marinette pulled her hands away from his face to grip his shoulders and leaned into him to keep her balance, though he never would have let her fall.
"Could you…" The pictures nearly slipped through his shaking fingers as he picked them up off the table and handed them to her. "Could you put these ones up? Please?"
"Why?" Marinette kept her face blank, free of the judgement or surprise or annoyance or whatever it was she was feeling, and that was almost worse somehow. There was no way to tell what she thought of the request. But she was waiting for him to finish, so he did.
"Because I love them," he said, fingers running over the picture of her lips while they itched to touch her real ones. "And I love you. And I want you to remember that I love you, even when I'm not around."
Marinette's shoulders relaxed, and she shifted in his lap again, getting comfortable. "What made you think I wasn't going to put them up?"
Adrien shrugged, letting his gaze drop from her face back to his fingers. It had been a stupid question after all. She wouldn't have put the pile on her desk if she hadn't been planning on-
"Haven't you ever heard of 'saving the best for last'?" Marinette placed one strong fingertip against the hollow of his throat and slid it up his neck to the point of his chin, forcing his face up to hers. She smiled as she kissed him. "Thank you for being honest."
Before he could grip her tighter and pull her in for another kiss, she scooted off his lap, pictures in hand. "This pile happens to be my favorite, and I was planning-" she pointed up above them, "-on putting them around my bed. What do you think?"
There was no way. It couldn't be this easy, could it? Hesitant happiness started to seep in, filling some his cracks of doubt.
"I love it," Adrien said, standing up. The walls around her loft were bare, except for one sparkle of light: the necklace he'd given her.
"So which one's your favorite?"
"It's your room," Adrien said. "Put them up how you want."
Marinette started to climb the ladder, taking her time, stopping at the top to stare down at him. "Want to help me?"
"I thought you said you didn't need any." He started climbing anyway. His girlfriend (his girlfriend!) and her adorable smile beckoned to him.
"Trust me," she said, pulling him up the last two rungs. "I'm an expert at sticking your picture to walls. But I still want your help."
He'd never been invited up here before. This was completely new territory. Unsure of what to do, Adrien knelt at the foot of her bed, knees dimpling the blanket. There wasn't a whole lot he could do. Marinette clutched all the pictures to herself.
And then she held them out to him, and he crawled over to grab them.
"Which one should I put here?" she asked as soon as he'd taken the pile from her. Her palm spread flat across her ceiling, right above her pillow.
"Why start there?" There was so much space on her walls.
Marinette smiled at him. "Because I want you to be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see every night."
Wordlessly, Adrien fumbled through the pictures until he found his favorite. That night in front of a sparkling fountain, when she'd snuggled up to him for the sake of a picture, the night he first began to think he had a chance.
The stack of pictures disappeared in a matter of minutes, transforming into the best wallpaper Adrien had ever seen. Marinette leaned back against her pillows when they were finished, then held out her arms open for him. Adrien wasted no time in leaning into her, letting her support his weight as his insecurities melted.
Eyes closed, he rested his face in her neck. His scalp buzzed as she ran her fingers through his hair, down to his nape, up around his ear. A tightness in his chest he didn't even know was there loosened as she held him. His favorite place. This was his favorite place to be. And was that smell vanilla frosting?
"I think it looks good, don't you?" she finally said.
"Mmm." He pushed his nose into her neck to smell the vanilla again.
"Hey. You feel better?"
Adrien lifted himself up just enough to look her in the eye, letting his face hang close to hers. Kissing distance. His favorite second place to be. "A lot."
"And all you had to do was ask."
"That's all, huh? Because I have another question." He dipped in lower, tilting his head, letting his nose brush her cheek.
"You already know that answer." Marinette's mouth rose up to meet him.
The End
Author's note: WOO! Thank you for reading! I think this is now officially my longest fanfic, so thanks for coming along for the ride! (Even if it took a super long time. Ha.)
If you liked this, you might also like my other Miraculous fics, which you can find on my profile. They're mostly one-shots, but there are a few longer ones, too. Or you can check out everything I have coming up (also on my profile).
I'm *finally* going to get back to "A Cat of Their Own." I promise! In the meantime, I'll be cross-posting some drabbles and smaller stories I have over on Tumblr in here. I didn't post them earlier because I didn't want to name them. That's the only reason. XD
Thanks again!