Hi all! I was listening to 80's rock this evening and an idea sprouted. Hope you enjoy and reviews make my day! :)
You can do this, Marinette, the raven haired girl assured herself, her eyes squinted closed and careful breaths loud and even. It can't be that bad, you're just confessing your love to your crush of three years.
"Go get 'im," Alya whispered before shoving her into the gorgeous blonde model. She squealed and fell to the floor after crashing into the back of the love of her life. Rubbing her head, she looked up to see an offered hand, with a beautiful concerned face. The light of the sun framed him perfectly, giving Adrien an angelic essence. It was all Marinette could do but to suppress a dreamy sigh. She took his hand while standing up, too busy admiring the boy in front of her to freak out about touching his hand.
"Are you okay, Marinette?" Adrien asked, frowning. His worry was etched into his expression, which made Marinette's heart flutter.
"O-oh, sorry I am, Ad-drien," she apologised, mentally kicking herself over her stuttering. I thought I had outgrown that!
"That's fine, Marinette," Adrien assures her, resting a hand on her shoulder. He's touching my shoulder, Marinette's mind screamed. HE'S TOUCHING MY SHOULDER! "But are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Marinette said cheerfully. She smiled when she realized her old stutter had left, and hopefully for good. Adrien gave her a small, close-lipped smile before turning back to Nino.
Nino, of course was looking nervously at a bush, gulping. Marinette turned to find Alya, glaring daggers at her boyfriend and aggressively beckoning Nino to join her.
"Y-you know what, dude," Nino said, his eyes darting anywhere but the bush. "I've got to go, uh, hang with Al! Yeah, she asked me to meet with her before school starts." And with that Nino rushes away, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone.
"Hey, Marinette," Adrien greets, smiling at her. "Want to walk to class together?"
Marinette felt her heart explode at the invitation, and she nodded her head in affirmation. This is the moment, girl, she told herself. Just be honest and be yourself. If he accepts you, then all your dreams come true. If he doesn't… yeah, let's not go down that road.
"Are you excited for Ultimate Mecha Strike IV?" Adrien asked, hoping to fill the silence that had come. Over the years him and Marinette had become closer friends, and he couldn't deny he had a blooming crush on her. Sure, Ladybug would always be his lady, but Marinette was… well, amazing.
"Oh my gosh, yes!" Marinette said, her anxiety disappearing and her intention of confessing to Adrien gone with it. "I pre-ordered a copy, so it should arrive tomorrow."
"I did, too," Adrien said enthusiastically. "Hey, why don't you come over tomorrow and we can try it out together?"
"Sure!" Marinette said, surprisingly at ease throughout the whole conversation. "Wait, will your dad mind?"
Adrien grinned like a cheshire cat, leaning towards her. "My dad's on a business trip in China, and I convinced him I didn't need a nanny at seventeen years old. I get the house to myself for two weeks."
"Nathalie and your bodyguard aren't there?"
"Nathalie went with my father and Gorilla has been visiting family in Poland," Adrien explained. Marinette smiled, seeing how excited he looked. She noticed how he had slowly started to resent his father during his time in public school, seeing how healthy parent-child relationships were supposed to look like.
"That's great!" Marinette congratulated him before they reached the classroom door.
"Yeah, without him making last minute photoshoots and not wanting to do many without Nathalie around, I don't have much to do. My piano lessons are cancelled for a month due to my teacher travelling to London to join this competition, so all I need to worry about is fencing."
"That really is great, Adrien," Marinette said, opening the door. "I know how busy you can get, it must be exhausting. I'm happy you're getting a break."
"I am too," he said, a wide smile stretching his cheeks. They each took their seats, and Alya didn't hesitate to pounce on her friend.
"How did it go? He was smiling, that's a good thing. Did he ask you out? Did you ask him out? Are you a couple? He didn't reject you, did he? How did you tell him?"
"Woah, girl," Marinette giggled. "One question at a time."
"Girl, just tell me everything."
"I'll be honest, we started talking…" Marinette started, Alya on the edge of her seat. "And I completely forgot to tell him." Alya groaned.
"Are you kidding me?" she huffed, grabbing Marinette by the shoulders. "You've liked him for three years, girl. You have to tell him sooner or later!"
"Liked who?" The girls turn to find a curious Adrien facing them, arms folded on their desk. Marinette blushed, shrinking into herself. "Marinette has a crush?"
"Y-yeah," the girl in question choked out in a high voice, blush deepening.
"Who?" he asked, leaning forward a little more. His eyes were filled with curiosity and hope. Alya read his expression easily, smirking to herself. She winked at Nino as he turned to join the conversation.
"Oh, uh, nobody really," Marinette told him quietly, twirling a pigtail around her pinky finger.
"You can tell me tomorrow," he said, giving her a crooked grin and a wink. Needless to say, the girl almost fainted as he turned around in his seat.
"Oh, you're telling him tomorrow alright," Alya whispered to Marinette as the warning bell rang.
"Tikki!" Marinette whined as she shut the trapdoor behind herself. She collapsed on her chaise, groaning. "I'll never be able to confess to Adrien. Whenever I try to tell him I either get distracted or the words won't come out!"
"Why don't you write him a letter, instead?" the kwami suggested. Marinette shot up in her seat, gears spinning in her head.
"You're a genius!" Marinette hopped up, running over to her desk and grabbing a pink piece of stationary. She tapped a pen on her chin in thought, before writing until the page was full. She sealed the envelope with a red sticker and signed Adrien's name in neat calligraphy.
Setting the letter down, she stood up and called Tikki over, telling her her plan before transforming and jumping through the hatch.
MLB
The last thing Ladybug expected to see when she passed Adrien Agreste's window was to Chat Noir jamming out to 80's rock. She watched from a nearby rooftop in shock, watching as he sang along to Livin' on a Prayer and then Carry on Wayward Son, his leather belt that resembled a cat tail being used as a guitar.
The agile superhero bounced across the room, jumping onto a railing to floss, of all things, before flipping off of it onto the couch, kicking the cushions out of place.
Why is Chat Noir in Adrien's room? Marinette asked herself, her heart-rate quickening. He couldn't be… no, that's not possible! Even if they have the same hair, eyes, some of the same mannerisms. Not to mention Adrien always disappears during akuma attacks…
Her train of thought screeched to a halt as Chat Noir twirled into the bathroom, out of Marinette's sight for a couple of seconds before leaping out like a ballerina with a tube of hair gel in his hand. He opened the tube and squeezed quite a bit onto his head and ran his hands through it while using the tube as a microphone for his continued singing. After his hair was soaked in gel and sticking out at odd places, he circled his arm around wildly, sending the gel everywhere.
At this, Ladybug couldn't help but giggle. Then chuckle. And before she knew it, she was clutching her stomach after a full minute of hysterical laughter.
As the song ended, Chat Noir jumped into a split in front of the window, looking outside with a tongue dangling from his lips. He saw a shaking silhouette on a neighboring rooftop, and he squinted. When he saw pigtails, his face paled. Please, please, please tell me she didn't see that, Adrien begged, quickly jumping to his feet.
Ladybug saw him staring at her, horrified. She swung to his window, knocking on it with a smirk. The boy opened it, and the spotted-bug-hero jumped through, giggles still in process.
"Please, d-don't stop," she sputtered out between chuckles. "Or should I say carry on."
At any other moment Adrien would tease his lady for punning, but his mortification froze his vocal chords. His former ghostly complexion turned a cherry red, and Ladybug's laughs continued.
After she had her fun, she sat down on his couch, ready for a serious conversation—if that was possible at this point. She patted the space next to her, and Chat Noir obediently sat.
"I-I guess y-you know who I am?" he stuttered, not meeting Ladybug's eye.
"Yeah," she admitted, placing a reassuring hand over his as he bowed his head in shame. "But that's okay, it was time to put the noodles in the water anyway."
"Huh?"
"Never mind," she said, shaking her head. "I've been the guardian for nearly three years, and I should've had you reveal your identity to me long ago. I was just scared."
"Scared?" Chat Noir asked, his head tilting in a very cat-like way.
"Yes," Ladybug admitted timidly. "Scared that knowing your true identity would force my feelings to become official."
"What do you mean?"
"Chaton, I-I've loved you," she confessed, earning a shocked partner. "I just have been struggling to admit it. I didn't want to be in love with two boys, I didn't want to choose. I feared knowing your identity would force me to see that I was in love with you."
"And…" Chat Noir started hesitantly. "Now that you know, who will you choose?"
"Both of you," Ladybug said. Chat Noir nearly fell off the couch, green eyes wide. Ladybug giggled before explaining. "I choose both Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir."
"You mean…?"
"The boy I was in love with was Adrien," Ladybug said, watching his reaction carefully. A wide smile brightening his face like a sunrise. No wonder Alya nicknamed him Sunshine.
"May I know who you are?" he asked, almost in a whisper. She saw the fear in his eyes, worrying she would say no. To his surprise, she simply nodded and mumbled something under her breath, inviting a bright pink glow.
And sitting on the couch was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chat Noir pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, tears threatening to pour over his cheeks.
"Why didn't you tell me that you loved me?"
"I tried, trust me," Marinette chuckled, pulling away from his hug. "Besides, there was a part of me that was Holding Out for a Hero."
Chat Noir groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Is this how she feels when I use cat puns? Marinette was very delighted with his disapproval, and continued to tease him.
"I guess you can say I experienced a Total Eclipse of the Heart during your relationship with Kagami."
"Oh my gosh, no," Chat Noir whined through his leather gloves.
"I almost wanted to move to Africa and never see you again," Marinette said, smirking.
"That was a big reach," Chat Noir complained.
"But you know I Will Always Love You," she told him.
"That was written in the 70's," Chat Noir countered, folding his arms. Marinette only laughed again.
"This is what you decided to do with your father gone?"
"I was just enjoying my freedom," he said, sticking his nose in the air.
Marinette laced her fingers through his, causing Chat Noir's head to whip towards her, mouth slightly ajar. Her cheeks were rosy and her smile shy.
"You know, Marinette," Adrien said. "I was afraid, too."
"Of?"
"The same thing you were. I loved Ladybug from the beginning. She was brave, confident, strong, fearless… perfect. What I didn't know was that I also loved Marinette from the beginning. She stood up to a bully with grace and confidence, she was quick to trust and forgive after she had mistaken me for sticking gum to her seat, she was one of the first girls that wasn't afraid to call me out—even if it was a misunderstanding. Over time I grew fond of her clumsiness and tumbling rants, and her leadership skills were downright attractive. Not to mention how beautiful she is. I was afraid of choosing between the two best women I have ever met, because losing either of them would be a nightmare. Having the two loves of my life merge into one person… you can't imagine how I'm feeling right now."
"I think I can," Marinette whispered, her eyes watering after his praise. She pulled him into a tight embrace, not ever wanting to let him go. She felt him pull her hair-ties out gently, before stroking her soft hair.
"I would run my fingers through your hair, but…" Marinette said softly, giggling as Chat Noir pulled back to touch his stiff golden locks. He blushed as he remembered his dancing with hair-gel.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked, stopping Marinette's giggling. She nodded timidly before he pulled her in for a soft, warm kiss.
Maybe they hadn't found out in the most romantic way, maybe they had witnessed each others' most embarrassing or darkest moments, and just maybe they were too blind and stubborn to truly see each other in the beginning, but none of that mattered in this moment. All that mattered was that two torn hearts were now whole and united, and their future promised a life of joy and love… together.