I found this June thing on Instagram (and then realized halfway through it was for Ladrien…oops) but it used the hashtag ladrienwithyonalla if you guys wanna see all the cool artwork that came from that. I only did about half of the themes, partly because this got so long so fast. I meant for them to be drabbles, but they ended up being mini-oneshots. Some of these are even little ficlets that I've had saved on my PC for over a year now because they weren't enough to be oneshots on their own, or they were just half-fleshed out ideas. So enjoy these. If you guys like them I might do more.

I'm still working on the break-up oneshot tho. Almost finished but it's like 12k words so I want to die rn.

Hope everyone is being safe/staying healthy…

Ages and timeline info follows each title.

-x-

Take a Nap

Age: 20/21 – Takes place right after Chat Has A Beard oneshot

"Where are you going?" Adrien asked as Marinette slipped from his arms and began pulling on clothing from the floor around the bed. He rolled onto his back and watched her pull her shirt down over her head and then immediately turn to look for her jeans.

"I need," she said distractedly, "to get some work done. I forgot about a design I've been putting off that I need to finish by lunch tomorrow."

"Marinette."

"You and your—" She paused her search to gesture vaguely at him, "—face threw me off and I forgot."

"So where are you going?"

Marinette dropped to her knees at the end of the bed and dipped down to reach under it. "Home."

He was silent and she dragged her jeans out from under the bed—honestly, how her clothes ended up everywhere was always a mystery to him. She jerked them on and caught his eye as she buttoned them. "What?"

"Just something Rena said earlier…" Adrien swallowed, choosing his words carefully. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

Marinette bit her lip and genuinely didn't know how to answer him. Adrien's eyes narrowed at her.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"She took a three hour nap the night before last," a voice whispered from the bookshelf above his bed.

"Tikki!" Marinette hissed.

Adrien sat up. "I'm home now."

Marinette crossed her arms. "And?"

"Marinette, please." His voice was soft and gentle, and it only fueled her irritation. No one thought she was capable anymore.

"I'm fine."

"I know that," he insisted. He rolled off the bed and found his own pants. After a moment, he added, "I heard what Chloe said just before I dropped in."

"Great," Marinette grumbled. "Side with Chloe."

Adrien smiled sadly and took her hands in his, forcing her to relax a little. "She doesn't know what happened with the harpoon, Marinette. But she's right."

"Don't rub it in."

"Remember the talk we had about having too much on our plate?" His jaw worked as he tried to find words that wouldn't hurt her feelings. "This kind of sleep deprivation in our line of work is dangerous. Right?"

Marinette said nothing.

"We're a team, Marinette."

"I know."

"Take a nap with me."

"No. I have work to do."

"Not for the next eight hours," Adrien pressed. He glanced at his watch. "It's not even dinnertime yet. Nap with me. We'll raid the kitchen whenever we wake up. You'll be up way early enough to have a solid six hours to work on the design. If not nine. I'm jet lagged anyways—"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Adrien, you were like six hours behind us."

He grinned. "Take a nap. Please?"

She took a deep breath and he could tell she was caving. "My parents will wonder where I am."

Adrien cocked an eyebrow. "Not if you tell them where you are. Or whatever excuse you usually give them when you stay the night."

"I usually tell them I'm sleeping at Alya's," she grumbled.

"They know, though."

Marinette smiled and nodded. "They do."

Adrien dropped her hands and moved to find the rest of his clothes. "Be honest and tell them you're staying here."

"I can't, Adrien," Marinette sighed. "I have to get this design done. If I had known you'd be coming home today I would have done it sooner."

"If you could have done it sooner," Adrien quipped, pulling his shirt on, "you would have. You don't procrastinate, Marinette. That's not who you really are. You can't fool me. I know all your secrets." He winked at her.

"Oh yeah?" she smirked.

"Yeah. Everyone else might think you procrastinate and suck at time management, but I know that your time management is enviable, My Lady." He pulled his jeans up and buttoned them. Then, he shot her a mischievous little smirk, eyes dancing behind his lashes, and she knew she was in trouble. He had a plan and she had already lost; she just didn't know how yet.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I don't have work to do." She crossed her arms again and lifted her chin in defiance.

And then Adrien stroked his beard again and she felt her body tense involuntarily. The sneaky little—

"I'll keep it for another day if you take a nap with me," he said slowly, and his fingers drifted towards the tip of his chin. "Leave this house and I shave it now."

Marinette clenched her jaw. "A week."

"Three days."

She took a step towards the window and tucked her hair behind her ear to show off an earring. "A week."

Adrien narrowed his eyes. "Deal." He threw back the blankets again and made a wide gesture.

"Do you still have that physics documentary? The one we were watching just before you left?" She shucked off her jeans again and then froze. "Can I borrow a pair of sweatpants?"

"The closet, Marinette, you know where they are," he mumbled. She still got weird about certain aspects of their relationship, like going into his closet or using his bathroom—she always used the guest room bathroom. She had seen him naked but apparently borrowing his clothes without asking was crossing a line. "And yes, I still haven't finished it."

She bounced back into the room, her cheeks pink, wearing a pair of black and green sweats. "Good. Let's watch that."

"Why?" he asked, watching as she climbed back into the bed. He hesitated, looking for the remote to the huge TV.

"That stuff always puts me right to sleep."

He rolled his eyes, more so at Plagg's snicker from the bookshelf than her comment, but he humored her and restarted the documentary anyways. He knew she would be out within ten minutes, but she was also right, he wasn't jetlagged for now. So he would watch his documentary and make sure she got sleep she so deserved.

Jealous

Age: 17/18 – pre-reveal

It wasn't that Marinette wasn't excited for Alya, but the feeling in the pit of her stomach wasn't exactly one she enjoyed. What was this? She tried to keep attentive to her giggling best friend.

"—and oh my gosh girl it's way better than the internet says. And there's so many different positions that all make it feel different."

She thought of Adrien. They had hugged, she had kissed his cheek numerous times. She was even getting better with the stuttering around him. But she didn't just think of Adrien, another blond popped into her mind. She had kissed Chat. Multiple times. When she thought of him, she thought of him like a best friend—two puzzle pieces that meshed perfectly. He was her perfect partner.

Her mind took that and ran. But what if he was another type of partner? One that she could kiss anytime she wanted—

"I'm so happy for you!" Marinette said suddenly and let go of the feeling to try and focus on her excitement for Alya.

"Girl," Alya gushed in a whisper. She leaned across the café table and took Marinette's hands. "It's your turn next. Maybe with Adrien?" She wagged her brows.

Marinette hesitated for a moment, not reacting, and this reaction had Alya's jaw dropping. "He's just a friend," she pressed quickly. She really didn't want those thoughts and imaginations turning back up, especially when she knew her face was as readable as a book.

"Nuh uh! You totally weren't sure!" she accused. "Maybe Adrien really is just a friend, but there's someone else, isn't there?!"

"No!" Marinette quickly denied, but she felt her face warming, especially when Chat's face flashed through her mind.

Alya smirked behind her coffee cup. "Sure girl, sure." She took a slow sip, but Marinette said nothing. "When you're ready to tell me about this new crush, let me know."

"It's not a crush," she grumbled, crushing croissant crumbs into her plate with a fork.

Alya seemed to soften. "It's okay to like multiple guys, Marinette. Its not cheating to have feelings, it's normal."

Marinette eyed her. "I know I'm not cheating because there's no one in my life to cheat on."

"I'm just saying, you don't need to feel conflicted about liking Adrien and this new guy." She paused. "Whatever his name is."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Adrien is a friend, Alya. And there is no new guy."

"Old…guy?" Alya tried. "Like…Luka maybe?"

Oh, no, why did she have to drag him into this?

"Alya," Marinette said in a warning tone, and Alya backed off.

"Alright, alright, fine. But the first time you have sex you better tell me."

"Maybe," Marinette smiled.

She couldn't shake the jealousy she felt though. Alya had her relationships so together. She and Nino had been together for years, and there was no question where their loyalties laid. But she had lingering feelings for Adrien still, then she could no longer deny these thoughts about Chat. And then Alya had to bring up Luka—her life was an absolute mess, and she was crazy jealous of Alya for having all her ducks in a row…

Unexpected Visit

Age: 17 – Pre-reveal

Marinette sometimes slept really hard. Like, the alarm clock has been going off for almost half an hour hard. And waking suddenly from those deep sleeps was always torture, because it was always sudden. Even the gentle hand of her mother had her jumping and her heart pounding in her chest. Usually, these nights of heavy sleep followed long hard days full of school and akuma almost nonstop.

So when something big and heavy fell from the trap door to her rooftop, she let out a loud scream as she shot upright in her bed. Luckily, years of being Ladybug had trained her to get her bearings quickly and assess her surroundings. So she immediately knew she wasn't in danger—whatever had fallen into her room was still on the floor and barely moving.

When she recognized it was a person, she leapt out of bed to turn the light on. When she realized it was Chat Noir, she leapt back into bed to shove Tikki beneath a pillow.

"Marinette?"

Crap.

She slid down to the main level of her room and raced for the door. "Sorry, Maman!" she called in a rush. "I didn't mean to yell, I was working late and a bat flew into the window."

She heard her mother paused in her ascent towards her room and held her breath. "Go to bed, Marinette, you have school in three hours! We'll talk in the morning."

"Yes, Maman."

She let out a breath when she heard her mother retreating and turned back to find Chat Noir still a lump on her floor in the dim light of the bedside lamp.

"Chat?" she asked hesitantly as she rushed to his side. "Are you alright?"

He groaned when she tugged on his shoulder and pushed him to lie on his back. She let her fingers flutter lightly down his sides and let her gaze rove over him, but trying to find cuts on him was nearly impossible in the dim lighting.

"Are you hurt?" she repeated, getting more and more concerned by his lack of responses. She'd seen him bounce back from being thrown into a brick wall.

"I'll be alright," he grunted, pushing himself to sitting. "I'm going to have some wicked bruises." He glanced up at the opening in her ceiling to the rooftop. "And that didn't help at all."

"What happened?"

"Late night akuma, that's all." He inspected one of his hands briefly before pinching one of the knuckles on his left ring finger. Marinette heard a bone snap back into place and she nearly gagged. He glanced up and smiled sheepishly. "I figured a warning would be worse."

"Ugh, just don't do it again." She stood and reached down a hand to help him to his feet.

"Sorry for dropping in on you like this at four in the morning."

She bit back the groan at his pun. "Where is Ladybug?"

"Sleeping, probably," he grunted as he stretched out his back. "I've been able to hold him back for about an hour and a half, but I'm not sure how much longer I can manage."

Immense guilt washed through Marinette. "So what are you doing dropping in on me?"

"Hiding, catching my breath, being a coward." He grinned. "Take your pick, Princess."

"You're not a coward," she said flatly. "If anything, it's Ladybug who's the coward."

Chat sighed. "No, she works the hardest of anyone I know."

The room shook and the air outside the window crackled. Chat sighed. "Wasn't as long as I'd hoped."

"Go," Marinette urged. "I'll wake some people up and we'll see if we can get word out and hopefully wake Ladybug up for you."

Chat considered this briefly. "Don't worry about it. If anything, the noise is bound to wake her eventually."

He climbed back up to her roof and Marinette sighed. So much for a good, long night of sleep. "Come on, Tikki. Word on the street is a cat needs some help." The kwami in question only giggled as she exited her cocoon of blankets.

Necktie

Age: 18/19 – 1 year post reveal

There was just something about it and she didn't know what it was. It was such a simple thing. And it wasn't like she hadn't been staring at glossy magazine covers of him in such a simple thing for years. Maybe it was because things had changed so drastically over the last year or so. She had always feared that if they knew each other's identities, things between them would change drastically. And they had, except instead of all the horrible dreadful things she had imagined, life had gotten so unimaginably wonderful that she cursed herself for not allowing Chat Noir to get his way years ago.

But this. This had to have been new. There's no way a dumb necktie always had this effect on her.

Marinette was standing off to the side of the ballroom with Alya watching Adrien make his rounds as he usually did at these modeling after-parties. She was laced into one of her own designs—a deep blue satin dress with a sweetheart neckline, gentle pleats, and long organza sleeves. She was leaning against the wall trying to stay out of the way.

Alya elbowed her in the ribs, and Marinette almost spilled her champagne down the front of her dress. She glared as she tugged her napkin from between her glass and her other hand to wipe the alcohol that had escaped her glass off her fingers.

"Girl, what is your problem?"

"Nothing," Marinette mumbled.

Alya narrowed her eyes. "Are you guys fighting?"

"What?" Marinette furrowed her brows in confusion before her brain launched into overdrive. "Why? Did he say something? Did I do something to—"

Alya laughed. "No, calm down, Marinette. You've just been glaring at him for the last twenty minutes."

"Oh," Marinette sighed, glancing back over at her blond-haired model of a boyfriend in his suit. Well, he'd left his jacket at his seat so really he just looked alarmingly sexy and Marinette had never really even thought those words at another human being until this night. Sure, she would be the first to admit Adrien was adorable, attractive, good looking. But sexy? Was she the type of girl that called men sexy?

Staring at Adrien in black dress pants and a professionally tailored white button down and black vest? Adrien in a necktie. And not just any necktie. A deep crimson with small black dots that she couldn't see from across the room but knew they were there.

Sexy was the only word to describe him and the physical desire it elicited in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh?" Alya prompted.

Marinette felt herself blushing furiously and she fidgeted. "I just…noticed."

"Noticed what?" She herself turned to stare at Adrien, trying to figure out what it was that had Marinette acting like a fourteen-year-old with a crush again.

"How good he looks right now," she mumbled, embarrassed.

Alya rolled her eyes and laughed. "You're both disgustingly cute, you know that?" She wrapped her arm through Marinette's. "Emphasis on disgusting."

"I'm sorry. I just—I don't know why—he's always—" Marinette began to babble, and Alya dragged her through the banquet tables towards Adrien and the small group of models he was talking with.

"Come on," Alya sighed. "He's had his allotted professional time." She grinned and leaned in conspiratorially. "He can introduce his girlfriend to all his work friends."

Marinette rolled her eyes but stopped resisting. "Alya, I've met them already. We've been dating for a year now."

"Yeah, well, watching you pine for him from across the room is actually really boring, alright?"

Marinette laughed and led them to Adrien's side, who took a step back to welcome them into their small circle.

Hands

Age: 18/19 – Directly follows Necktie

Adrien decided that night, that if he ever died, it was by her hands. Because of her hands.

"My father will be gone until tomorrow afternoon, if you'd like to stay for a little while," Adrien whispered to her on the ride back to his family mansion in the back of the car. Even though he wasn't in the suit, she could almost see the glowing green eyes glinting at her, a Chat Noir-esque grin on his face.

"Stay?" she asked, eyes darting to Gorilla in the driver's seat.

He followed her line of sight and amended, "well, come back."

She smirked and ran a hand down his tie, fingers feeling the lines of his muscles. He still wasn't wearing his suit jacket—she had that on now—and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The heat in her stomach flared and sparked, and there was no way she was going to pass up the opportunity to spend alone time with him. Those moments were few and far between due to his bulky schedule and their hero duties.

"Alright," she murmured. "But I can't stay the night. I promised papa that since I would be out late tonight, I'd help open the bakery for the weekend rush tomorrow."

Adrien only responded with a shy smile and laced his fingers with hers. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and wondered if this is how Marinette had felt for years while she stuttered and mumbled incoherently around him. His reactions to her in the suit were vastly different than out of it.

She once explained to him that it was easier to deal with her feelings for him when they were both suited up.

They pulled up at the mansion and Adrien looked around, confused. "We have to take Marinette home," he said aloud.

Gorilla met his eyes in the mirror. "When she's ready, I will take her home. It's dangerous for her to be sneaking around at night."

Adrien grinned. "You're the best," he declared, undoing his seatbelt, and opening the door.

"Thanks!" Marinette called back as Adrien took her hand once again.

-x-

Marinette sat on the end of his bed and he loosened his tie by his desk. When he caught her staring, her cheeks reddened.

"Uh," he started, unsure. "You've had that look on your face all night. Is something wrong?"

"What look?" she jumped, gesturing quickly. "Nothing—it's nothing, you're fine—I mean, I'm fine."

He smiled gently at her old antics. Knowing why she did it now, explained so much. And he thought it was adorable—he always had, in a way. It was even cuter when she did it as Ladybug, he had to admit.

"You sure?" he asked, sliding the tie off his neck. He saw her swallow, lips pressing together, and he looked down at the tie in his hand. He had an idea. "Marinette?"

They'd spent the night in each other's beds before. That wasn't what had her blushing, clearly. No, it was something else.

Adrien mustered up all the Chat Noir he could, and let a wicked grin slide onto his face. "See something you like, Princess?"

Her face turned cherry red, and he knew he had hit the mark. He looked her over then. Adrien had already memorized every detail of her dress—he'd described it to numerous models and designers he'd talked to that night. But analyzing it as Marinette, the way it clung to her in all the best ways, the seams cupping her breasts, trailing down her sides in perfect panels. The fabric flaring out gently at her waist and pooling around her ankles…he hadn't been able to keep himself from stealing glances the whole night.

Adrien stepped up to Marinette, his knees bumping hers.

"Hi," she squeaked.

A wider grin. "Hi." He reached around her shoulders to the chignon at the back of her head, pulling a few pins out to let her hair tumble down her back. "I didn't hear you before."

She cleared her throat. "When?"

"When I asked if you see something you like."

"Nope."

His eyebrows rose. "No?"

"Nope," she said again. "Nothing."

He frowned. "Oh, okay." The buttons slid out of his vest easily, and he kept his eyes trained on hers, which were captured by his fingers. "You sure?"

That seemed to snap her out of it. "Adrien, do you have a turn-on?"

Adrien blinked in surprise, completely blind-sided by the question. "W-what?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "Oh, my god I can't believe I just asked you that."

He couldn't help but laugh. Marinette frowned and stood, pushing past him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." He calmed down, but couldn't help but smile as she paced. "Why did you ask that?"

"I just," she started ranting, not looking at him. "I don't know. You just look so good in that suit and the necktie—I caught the Ladybug symbolism, by the way."

"Of course," he nodded.

"And it just made me…I don't know. What even is a turn on? Is that even what this is?"

Adrien cocked an eyebrow and shoved his hands into his pockets, waiting for her to continue as he knew she would.

"All I could think about tonight was just getting you out of those clothes which makes no sense," she gestured wildly, "because if I like you in those clothes wouldn't I want you to stay in those clothes?"

He swallowed, "do you want me to take these off?"

Marinette finally turned to him, but only a small squeak left her lips.

"You asked me if I have a turn on," he said slowly, moving to stand in front of her. "I do. I have a few."

"How do you know?" she breathed.

He hummed, not wanting to say it. But she had opened herself up so vulnerably to him, cheeks burning red, that he felt the need to match her. "It's a lot more obvious for guys," he said slowly, with meaning. "As a male model, especially one my age, I've learned to deal with it in certain ways."

He could feel his own blush creeping up now, and he hoped that she appreciated his efforts. She swallowed again. "What are your turn-ons?"

"Well," he began, slowly letting his fingers drift up her sleeves. "You in my suit jacket, that set me off."

"Really?" she blurted in disbelief. He blushed harder.

"Uhm, also, that dress. Not a huge fan of the color—you always look best in warmer tones—but you always flatter your curves in the best way and…"

Marinette reached forward and undid the last button of his vest. "Does it…does it make you want to take my dress off?"

He nodded, not trusting his voice, and his fingers found hers to help with the buttons of his shirt.

A thought popped into Marinette's head, and she wanted to try something. So she stood on her toes, let her lips meet his, and waited until she was sure he was thoroughly into it. "What if," she whispered, "my dress was a dark red? Like your tie. Black spots maybe—"

Adrien grabbed Marinette by the hips and jerked her towards him so that they were pressed together and she could feel everything. "That's what just the thought of that does, My Lady," he murmured into her ear before bending to kiss her throat.

"O-okay," she stammered, but feeling his reaction didn't freak her out like she thought. Her mind was melting. She did that to him. She put those thoughts into his head—the same ones she'd been having about him for years. "But…just for the hypothetical Ladybug dress?"

Adrien pulled away in time for her to catch the tail end of his Chat Noir-esque eye-roll. "I'm pretty sure I listed you in that jacket," he argued. "You supplied to Ladybug idea."

Marinette let out an agitated puff of air as he held her to him. It took her a second to quash the embarrassment she was feeling enough to meet his eyes again. When she did, she stood on her toes and he met her half way. Her hands continued their mission of undoing all his shirt buttons, and she felt his slip behind her for the clasp above the zipper at the top of her dress.

Once the last button dropped from her fingers, she flattened her hands against his abs and felt him suck in a breath, lips at her jawline. Marinette got a thrill out of these new sounds her touches elicited. He was reacting to her. Another deep breath as her hands traveled up the muscles of his chest, but he stopped breathing altogether when they plunged down to the waistband of his pants.

"What's the matter, Kitty?" she whispered, her fingers walking their way to his belt buckle.

"Marinette…"

"Chat got your tongue?"

Adrien hummed. "My tongue? Remember the time," he mused, slowly making his way from her lips to her cheeks. "Remember the time, when we were fifteen, you dropped your textbooks…" He made his way to her ear and down her neck. "…I helped you pick them up, and you looked at me and said—"

Marinette jerked away. "Tikki! Sp—" Adrien covered her mouth with his own.

"Dirty trick," he mumbled, before lifting her up and moving towards his bed. "I think Tikki would have a few choice words if you abused your powers like that."

"Maybe," Marinette smirked. "But you get adorably flustered when I have the mask on. It's freeing to not be the one tripping over words."

Adrien laid her back on his bed before crawling to hover over her. "Marinette. You get me just as flustered."

Marinette pursed her lips and tried hard to ignore the bit of panic in her brain and the butterflies in her stomach. She summoned every ounce of her that was Ladybug and channeled it. Marinette lifted her hips and jerked down on his belt so that their hips met roughly. "Really?" she asked with a sly grin.

Her hands were going to be the death of him, he decided then.

"Cataclysm," he murmured into her lips, snaking his hands beneath her to finish removing her dress from her. Marinette let out a laugh.

Drunk

Age: 21/22 – Post moving in together

If Alya had to guess which one of them she'd be dragging home because they were shitfaced, she would have put money on Marinette. Plot twist: It was not, in fact, Marinette.

"Where are we going?"

Alya jerked Adrian off the street and back onto the sidewalk and nudge him along. "We're going to your apartment."

No. Not only did Alya lose that bet with Nino, but she learned a very important fact tonight that Marinette had forgotten to tell her. She monitored his drinking. Marinette monitored. Adrien's drinking.

I'm so sorry, Marinette had texted back when Alya told her that Adrien didn't seem to know his limits. I am his limit. I usually stop him.

So that's how, four mixed drinks and seven shots later, she was leading Adrien back to his apartment after his annual Christmas party. Alya had volunteered to be Adrien's stand-in plus one when Marinette was asked to dress models for a holiday show in the States.

But she didn't mention her boyfriend was a massive lightweight.

"Is Marinette going to be at my apartment?" he asked, stumbling a little. Alya wrapped her arm through his and he jumped a little and then laughed.

"No, Marinette comes home Tuesday," she told him. "Remember?"

"I remember—oh shit." Adrien froze in the middle of the sidewalk and started digging through his jacket pockets. "Where is Tikki?"

Alya stepped up real close to Adrien and grabbed his wrists. "Shush, she's in my purse."

"Oh, good," Adrien sighed. "Marinette would kill me. She gave me one job—protect the city."

"Oh, is that all?" she laughed, dragging him down the street again. She could see his apartment building roof now. Half a block.

"Yeah," Adrien sighed. He looked down at Alya. "Thanks for going with me. I wasn't going to go."

"Well I'm glad I could fill in—it's always fun rubbing elbows with the ridiculously wealthy and entitled," Alya snickered. "These kinds of parties always have the best food and the best gossip. I'm always down for either."

"Marinette said I had to."

Alya frowned. Marinette wasn't the type of girlfriend to tell Adrien what to do. "Why did she tell you to go?"

Adrien smiled goofily and Alya had to steer him around a fire hydrant. "She's making up for lost time, I think. All the years of enjoyment my father stole from me after my mother died."

"You're both disgustingly cute."

Adrien froze suddenly, and Alya had seen that look numerous times on girlfriends' faces to know, and she shoved Adrien down an alley. She stood outside the opening around the corner, and pulled out her phone. They were ahead six hours—nine even? So Marinette wouldn't be at the show just yet.

She tried to block out the sound of Adrien by studying the colors on the darkened shop window in front of her as she searched for Marinette's number in her phone. As it rang, she peeked around to check on him, torn between laughing and feeling pity. Boy was a grown man and didn't know his own limits? Alya had heard of sheltered, but with the number of parties their group attended, he'd had plenty of time to learn. Like everything else she had taught him about socializing, she would have to teach him his limits for those times Marinette couldn't moderate.

"Hey, Alya. How is the party?"

"I won't take too much of your time, but your man is emptying his stomach in the alley next to that bagel place you like so much," Alya said quickly, glancing up at the painted windows of said bagel shop. "So I just called to thank you for doing this to me."

Marinette was quiet for a second. "Okay, but I'll bet the champagne was expensive."

"More than my rent."

"And I'll bet you heard some news-worthy tidbits."

"Other than a certain cat can't hold his liquor—"

"I said I was sorry, I figured if anything he'd be responsible," Marinette grumbled. "How much did he have?"

"I lost track of him for about an hour, so who knows. I saw him with no fewer than three different mixed drinks and that brunette he models with a lot gave him a bunch of shots," Alya told her and then lowered her voice. "They were dragging her boney butt out of the fountain when we were leaving."

Marinette audibly let out a breath. "Well, at least there's one good thing. Adrien won't be The Story this year."

"Ha!" Alya burst, peeking around the corner to check on Adrien. "I didn't even go last year and I heard about the male model that called the VP a milf the whole night."

Marinette laughed. "Yeah, I got secondhand embarrassment from that one."

"Hey, who are you talking to?" Adrien demanded, stumbling out of the alley. Alya switched the call to speaker phone while she reached for a stick of gum in her purse, pleasantly surprised to find Tikki already holding one out to her.

"Your lovely girlfriend, wanna talk to her? She's on speaker."

"Lady Princess!"

"Oh, Adrien," Marinette sighed. "Did you have fun?"

"I'm pine-ing for you, but I managed," Adrien said.

Marinette groaned. "Adrien, please."

"Yule be sorry you missed this year."

Alya rolled her eyes. "See what I've had to deal with all night?"

"How rude-olf you to say," Adrien smirked. "I've been sleigh-ing it all night."

"Adrien!" But Marinette was laughing now. "We agreed—no more Christmas puns! You promised!"

"I'm sorry, My Lady, but this time of year gets me a little Santa-mental."

"You're mental, alright," Alya grumbled. She nudged Adrien to move down the street. They didn't have too far to go now.

"You don't think Marinette and I have great chemis-tree?"

"I'm going to hang up on you, Adrien." Marinette sounded much lighter than she had when she answered the call initially, and Alya narrowed her eyes at Adrien. Just how much had he sobered up in the last five minutes? And was he really as drunk as she thought he was in the first place? Because clearly, he was playing a game here.

"Here, let me—" Adrien took Alya's phone from her hand and tapped the speaker phone icon before bringing it to his ear. "Believe in your-elf, Princess! I know you're going to do great tonight."

Alya didn't hear what Marinette's reply was, but she could hear her friend's tone, that soft and quiet voice she used when she was nervous.

"Just remember this is for fun, so have fun, okay?"

"Like you had fun tonight?" Alya cut in.

"Fir sure," Adrien smirked. "No—wait, I'm sorry. I know, I promised, but no one here is as receptive to my puns as you are, and it's not nearly as fun being Mr. Bug without my Lady Noire."

"Adrien, give me the phone so you can buzz us into the building and unlock the door." Alya held her hand out for her phone.

"Okay hold on—Marinette, I love you, and I know you're going to nail it and everyone is going to love your designs and—"

"Enough, lover boy." Alya plucked her phone from Adrien's hand and exchanged it with the keys she'd taken from his back pocket. "Hey, girl."

"I really appreciate that you're taking care of him," Marinette sighed.

"He's in good hands. Don't even worry." Alya followed Adrien into the apartment building and towards the elevators in the back of the little lobby. She always thought their apartment building felt more like a posh hotel than an apartment building. "I called Nino before we left so he's meeting us here in a bit."

"There are blankets and pillows in the hall closet—"

"They're on the floor in the bedroom."

Marinette paused and Alya stared at Adrien as he unlocked the door, wondering how he could have possibly heard that.

"Ask him why the clean blankets and pillows are on the floor—"

"I made a fort with Tikki."

"Tikki—" Marinette hissed. "She has him wrapped around her little finger—"

"I make forts with Nino," Alya said quietly to Adrien. Adrien froze halfway through the threshold of the apartment, arm raised to turn on the lights.

"I'll bet we could make a really epic fort while Marinette is gone," Adrien mumbled lowly. "Her dressforms—"

"I heard that!" Marinette screeched. "Adrien Agreste you leave my dressforms alone! You can't keep breaking them building blanket forts!"

"I changed my mind, Marinette, your drunk boyfriend is the best," Alya laughed, closing the door. "Love you, mean it!"

"Alya!"

"Call us when you get up in the morning to tell us about your show," Alya said quickly. "You're going to do great!"

Someone knocked on the door as Alya hung up and Adrien rushed by her in a blur, Tikki trailing slowly behind with a cookie in her hands.

"This is crazy," she commented to the kwami, who only giggled.

"Forts!" Adrien called, racing back the way he'd come. Alya turned to see Nino kicking off his shoes in the entryway, confused.

"Is he drunk?"

"Shitfaced," Alya nodded, then amended, "well, he got sick on the way home so he's probably got a really good drunk going on now that he's feeling better. Is he always like this?"

"Drunk Adrien is just Chat Noir with no inhibitions," Nino laughed. He reached up and fist bumped Tikki. "Are we making blanket forts?"

"Apparently." She led him to the living room where Adrien was piling up blankets and pillows from the bedroom. He had already dragged some of Marinette's dressforms out of the office and into the living room, but she could still see one of two remaining in their shared office, both wearing strips of unfinished clothing.

It was going to be a long night. Babysitting never made her as exhausted as Chat-sitting…

Morning

Age: 22/23

There were those mornings, they weren't too rare, but they were rare enough to appreciate every other morning. Mornings where neither of them got sleep because of a terror in the middle of the night. Marinette was facedown at the kitchen table mumbling to herself about how she was almost out of vacation days after having long since run out of sick time, so she had to go into work today.

"Work from home," Adrien mumbled as he put a bowl of cereal down in front of her and rubbed her back until she sat up and took the spoon from him. "I know you're allowed to do that."

"I would be too distracted here," she replied with a yawn. "I wouldn't get any work done."

"A little nap wouldn't hurt before you worked a bit." He turned back to the kitchen and prepped a cup of coffee.

"That's wrong."

"What's wrong is making us go to work after spending four hours catching an akuma at two in the morning," he grumbled back. "Just shift your hours, nap and make up the time at the end of the day if it eases your mind."

"Maybe," Marinette dismissed.

Adrien stood in silence against the counter with his arms crossed as the coffee machine spit out his coffee into his cup. When he was all but finished prepping his cup, someone was pounding on the door.

"It's open," Marinette called around a mouthful of her cereal. Adrien made his way back to his spot across from Marinette at the kitchen table when Alix stormed in and stood angrily in the doorway.

"Where have you been?" Adrien asked testily. "We could have used you last night."

Alix's eyes narrowed at him. "I had to fix a timeline issue."

Adrien sank down in his chair with his hands wrapped around his coffee mug and watched Marinette eating cereal at the table across from him. "Which one? Can't you technically do those whenever?"

She glared at him harder, but it was Marinette she spoke to. "Chat Blanc."

Marinette choked on her cereal, and those two words did more to wake him up than the caffeine in his cup. "What did you just say?" He sat up slowly.

Alix turned her irritation to Marinette. "Even after all that, you still revealed your identity to him? Knowing what could have happened?"

"I did not reveal my—"

Adrien interrupted with a groan. "Please don't get her started on that. Circle back to the part about Chat Blanc."

The girls ignored him and Marinette pushed her breakfast away. "The way he found out about me was an accident—"

"It was an accident the first time, too," Alix ground out.

"The first time?"

"I don't know how it went so wrong the first time," Marinette pressed, her own fatigue sparking irritation in her. "Remember? I fixed it and it never happened."

"But it could have happened again."

"What are you guys talking about?" Adrien demanded. His voice was strong but not loud.

Marinette's mind wandered back to the one incident she'd been trying to forget for years. Sometimes, in her weakest moments, the memory would randomly resurface and she'd live through it all over again.

"You got akumatized once before being Camera Man."

"Yeah, I know," he said slowly. "My sixteenth birthday."

Both Marinette and Alix were shaking their heads at him.

"We were fourteen or fifteen," Marinette said slowly. "I don't know all the details, just that you were akumatized into Chat Blanc. And you knew my identity."

"You destroyed the planet," Alix said flatly. "And the moon."

"Enough," Marinette snapped at her. "I know that was a stressful mission, but everything turned out okay and there is absolutely no chance that is ever going to happen. We fixed it."

"Marinette?"

Adrien's voice caught and held her attention finally, and she withered at the look of confusion on his face. She took a slow breath. "There was a timeline I…" She glanced up at Alix, who still stood next to them with her arms crossed. "She came and got a younger version of myself, because I messed up. Big time."

"You prevented an entire timeline from happening?" Adrien asked slowly, glancing between the girls. He began to piece it together. "I found out about your identity and that led to the world being destroyed?"

"There's a chunk missing in there, but yeah," Marinette confirmed. "I never knew what happened between the two events, but you kept saying that our love destroyed the planet."

Suddenly Adrien's face was ashen.

"Alix, I think you should go," Marinette murmured, standing and walking around the table.

Alix left, mumbling about needing to sleep for approximately three years, and Marinette dropped to her knees next to Adrien, turning his face towards her. "I stopped it, it never happened."

"Marinette." His voice was so quiet and fragile, she hadn't heard it like that in years. "I know what happened."

"You don't," she whispered forcefully. "You can't possibly know."

"My father found out."

Marinette sighed. Of course, she'd come to the same conclusion years ago, especially when they finally demasked Hawkmoth. But there was no way to know for sure. Well—there was one way, but Alix was really good at standing her ground and sticking to the rules of her time traveling miraculous.

"Don't tell me he didn't," Adrien said firmly.

"You don't know that," she said softly. "I don't know that."

Adrien switched gears. "You've known for years about this. Tell me you didn't hypothesize about could have happened."

Marinette stood and moved to take her bowl to the sink. Adrien moved to follow, but Tikki was suddenly in front of him, shaking her head.

"You've known about this for years," he realized, gently nudging Tikki aside to meet Marinette at the sink. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "You've known about this for years."

"I have," she whispered, freezing.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you've been dealing with this and I didn't know."

"I didn't want to talk about it."

"We're partners," he whispered into the back of her neck. "I want to help you shoulder it, so when you're ready to talk about it—if you ever are—I'm here."

"Thank you, Kitty."