Chapter 1: A Moment in Time

A/N: This was just an idea that popped into my head the other day that I couldn't not write about! I'm complete trash for this fandom and I'm proud of it. I'm hoping to update at least once a week, but upper year uni courses will be the death of me. I hope you all enjoy!

This fic is also crossposted to AO3 under the name DragonWitch. I also have a tumblr, howaboutchat, for all things Miraculous Ladybug, including update information on fics!

Adrien knew for certain the exact moment that he fell in love with Marinette. It was on his first day of school, after Chloe had tried to leave gum on her seat and he was attempting to pick it off.

"Hey! What are you doing?" A voice exclaimed from the door as Adrien poked at the gum. He immediately spun around to see a petite, yet very furious, girl stomping over to him and gesturing to her seat. Behind him, he heard Chloe and her friend Sabrina giggle hysterically as he stuttered over a reply. This girl was fiery and, damn, Adrien thought, really cute. The tiny woman huffed and crossed her arms over her chest angrily. "Okay. I get it. Good job, you three. Very funny."

Three? Oh, oh no, Adrien mentally panicked while he tried again to defend himself verbally. Unfortunately, it did not appear to be his lucky day in the word department and Marinette barely spared him another glance, though it could arguably have been a glare, and stomped to her seat before sitting down next to the chewed gum. Slightly shaken, Adrien took the last available seat next to a boy in a ball cap and a blue tee shirt. The boy looked between the newcomer and the frantically whispering girls behind him a few times before inching closer to Adrien on the bench.

"Why didn't you tell her it was Chloe's idea?" The boy asked with a perplexed expression. He had witnessed the whole thing and knew that Adrien was trying to remove the gum, and yet he had quickly given up and let Marinette think the worst of him.

Adrien shrugged. "I've known Chloe since I was a little kid. And I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's, like, my only friend." The boy blinked in reply before shaking his head and letting out a chuckle.

"I'm Nino," he said, holding out his hand to Adrien. "And it's time for you to make some new friends, dude." Adrien smiled widely as he happily accepted the boy, Nino's, hand. As he turned to face the front of the classroom and begin his first official day in public school, his train of thought flickered back to the pig-tailed girl sitting behind him. He could almost feel her eyes boring disdainfully into the back of his head and yet he couldn't stop smiling as he thought about her passionate outburst and the determination that blazed in her sparkling blue eyes as she told him off.

Wow, he thought to himself as his new teacher, Ms. Bustier, began the first lecture of the day. She's amazing.

Marinette knew for certain the exact moment that she fell in love with Chat Noir. It was the first time they had both transformed in order to battle Hawkmoth through his akuma, Stoneheart. There were a lot of emotions going through the teenage girl that day- she figured it was fair, though. It's not every day that a girl finds a box with magical earrings and a flying bugmouse telling her that she is the new superhero protector of Paris. On top of the whirlwind that was becoming Ladybug, that was the day that she met Chat Noir for the first time. The boy was tall with sun-kissed blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and a heart-melting smile. He couldn't have been much older than her and wow, Marinette thought, he looked really good in leather.

The first time they had laid eyes on each other, Marinette had literally fallen into his arms. She had felt the solid planes of his chest through their suits, as well as his well-toned biceps against her legs and upper back, and really, she thought, how could someone not fall for that immediately?

As she hopelessly bumbled through their first akuma fight, Chat Noir was leaping and bounding confidently around the arena as he cracked jokes and made eye-roll inducing puns. It was something that Marinette couldn't help but admire as she tripped and squeaked and pulled all sorts of undignified stunts as she attempted to gain control of her magic yoyo. In her opinion, she was incredibly unprepared compared to Chat Noir, with clumsy Marinette making more of an appearance than the strong superheroin that she was supposed to be.

"No sweat, clumsy girl," he said. "I'm learning the ropes too."

And now, almost two years later, her and Chat were the strong, revered, miraculous heroes that all of Paris looked up to and relied on. Their professional relationship had developed exponentially, to the point where they barely had to speak to each other during battle because they both trusted and knew each other so well. Unfortunately for Marinette, it seemed that Chat was not as interested as herself in pursuing any other form of relationship. The young woman was not deterred, however, and was determined that one day he would realize how perfect they were for each other and they'd have three kids named Emma, Hugo, and Louis and maybe also a hamster. In the meantime, Marinette was incredibly grateful for the friendship she had gained from her partner, as well as from her group of friends at school.

Meeting Alya was among the best things that happened to Marinette the day that she received her Miraculous. Now the excitable redhead was dating one of Marinette's closest childhood friends, Nino and Marinette couldn't be more happy for them. She had also found a friend in Adrien, the boy whom she had initially thought the worst of for being friends with Chloe. He still acted a little weird around her sometimes and she couldn't help but wonder if she somehow made an equally bad impression that first day. But aside from a few minor bumps, and with the exception of Chloe, Marinette could confidently say that she was happy with the everything in her life.

But, as the story goes, she wanted something more.

And so did Chat Noir. Well, Adrien did anyway.