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thatwriterchickrachel · 6 years

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Mysteries at Midnight - 34.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Relationships: Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng; Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe; Chat Noir/Ladybug

Characters:

Chat Noir (Miraculous Ladybug)

Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug)

Alya Césaire

Adrien Agreste

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Nino Lahiffe

Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

Madame Bustier (Miraculous Ladybug)

Chloé Bourgeouis (Miraculous Ladybug)

Nathaniel Kurtzberg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Lila Rossi (Miraculous Ladybug)

Additional Tags:

dance au

Ballroom dance

College

Grown up AU

Royalty AU

Language:English

Read on Ao3 [for reliable updates please read on Ao3 I forget about tumblr]

Chapters 1-30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33

Chapter 34 - Confess your heart

Summary: In which MariChat have some frustrating moments

Marinette buried her head in her hands as she leant against the wall beside the bathroom. Why had she just opened the door while the boy was changing. Did her brain stop working after the moment on the road?

She had managed to back up quite quickly and shut the door softly, but not before she got a glimpse of him, practically shirtless with dumb faraway look in his eyes a cute small smile across his face.

Stop it, she scolded herself. You can’t let yourself think like this, she shook her head before she heard the latch beside her click. She jumped back, pressing her hand to her lips to stop her gasp. How would she explain this? And the blood that was burning her cheeks?

Thankfully, Chat just opened the door a little before reaching around and taking the hanger, not even a single strand of blond hair made its way into view.

Marinette let her breath escape slowly, hand still on her mouth, not trusting herself as the door clicked shut.

Finally, she made her feet work, backing back up into the kitchen and fiddling with her stereo, searching for some noise in the suddenly too-quiet apartment. As Jagged Stone’s guitar rhythms began, Marinette let her hand drop from her face. She could breathe a little slower now, her heartbeat still echoing in her ears as she turned to the fridge and pulled out some juice.

She busied herself preparing drinks and snacks, her mind trying to drag her back to the smile of the boy in the bathroom. Sure, he was attractive, Marinette conceded, and he was charming and he cared about her, and she could be herself around him. He even liked her as Ladybug.

But that was the problem, Marinette sighed. He liked Ladybug. And she… she liked Adrien…right? But Adrien, the boy who could smile sunshine, with eyes green as clover; the boy who was her friend, who made her tongue tied and flustered but had the patience to sit through all that, to get to know her as Marinette… He also liked Ladybug.

Tikki squawked and Marinette nodded. That wasn’t even the most complicated part. Adrien was engaged to Chloe. And both Adrien and Chat Noir were moving in a few months. Marinette put down the packet of biscuits the had just opened and frowned.

Why couldn’t she just like a normal guy? She wondered. Although, the only normal guy she had liked was Nathaniel and look where that had gotten her… Marinette shook her head, unwilling to open that up again.

Dating is hard, she thought.

“Did you say something?” the voice came from the hall.

Had she said that out loud? Marinette felt her heart begin to race. “U-uh, no, nothing. How-how does it all fit?” Marinette managed to stammer, fiddling with the biscuit packet again as she realised her hands were shaking.

“It all feels great,” Chat exclaimed, his voice a little perkier than before. He stepped into view, Cheshire grin on his face, his eyes lit up with delight. The shirt fit him perfectly, the vest a little more form-fitting than the one from his previous suit and the waist of his pants sat above his hips, closer to his waistline making him look taller somehow.

“I feel taller,” Chat laughed as he bounced on his toes and Marinette couldn’t help but smile. “These pants are really roomy. They give a lot of movement, not as restricting as they look – but well, I mean, you used garbadine, so it was bound to be appropriate.” Chat remarked as he brushed the legs of the pants he wore.

“Y-yeah. It’s a stretch garbadine blend actually. You know fabrics?” Marinette asked, curiously.

“O-oh, uh, yeah,” the boy stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not really. I mean, my tailor… it’s on the tags,” he stumbled.

“Ah,” Marinette nodded. She wasn’t quite convinced, but a lot of guys didn’t like to admit to knowing thing about fabrics or fashion, so she let it go.

“And, um, how does the vest fit? I know it’s a bit more, er, fitted than the other one, but well, y-know, the tango style and all that,” Marinette fought the heat she felt creeping up her neck.

Keep it together, she warned herself.

“Oh, yeah. It’s actually pretty good. I can breathe no problem and I can’t see any way this would stop me from moving with Ladybug.”

“That’s good. I’ll need you to wear it for one rehearsal before the performance so I can fix anything that isn’t comfortable for you.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Marinette. It fits really well as it is. Plus, I’d hate for anything to happen to it before the competition,” Chat said carefully.

“But if anything happens at the competition I won’t be there to fix it,” Marinette frowned.

“You won’t? Princess, that’ll be two performances you’ll miss and trust me, they are performances.”

“Sorry, minou, but I’m not supposed to still be involved, remember? I have a feeling if I show up it’ll cause more harm than good,” Marinette explained, trying not to let the truth of her words seep through.

She couldn’t see anyone taking Ladybugs true identity very well, especially after Nat-Dessinatuer had.

“Marinette, even after everything you aren’t going to stand up to them?” he stepped towards her and she frowned.

“Chat, I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying.”

“I just don’t get why you’re trying to hide your involvement when it’s obvious you aren’t stopping. You’re still talking with me and Ladybug even after they left the note, you kept designing and they posted the pictures online to try and hurt you and Alya. What I’m saying is, if you’re not giving up, why are still hiding?”

“We all have our reasons, Chat, and we all have those we want to protect. I just can’t be at the performances,” Marinette sighed.

“But Ladybug… she and I really appreciate your hard work. It pains us that you aren’t able to see it on the floor,” Chat’s face had dropped, his eyes no longer as bright as they had been before.

“I appreciate that, Chaton, but I get to see videos and hear all about it. This is just my curse to bear,” she added with a small smile, trying to cheer him up. “A designer who can never wear their items, or see them worn; like a chef who can’t taste their dishes,” Marinette tried to reason.

The boy frowned. “And what about you? When you do you actually get to be the princess and embrace the spotlight you deserve?”

Marinette gave him a kind, sad smile. He was so concerned for her, she struggled to find the words.

“It’s… It’s just not my time yet,” she reassured him, gently patting him on the arm.

“Well that’s no good,” he said after a moment. Marinette looked at him confused before he backed out of the kitchen and began pushing the furniture around in the living room, managing to create enough space in the centre for them to move around in. Marinette realised what he was doing as he reached out to her.

“This is a bad idea, Chat Noir,” Marinette stammered. “I’m not very good.”

“Come on. We both know that’s a lie,” Chat said, his voice serious and so unlike any side of him she had seen. His eyes were earnest, blazing as he walked towards her and took her hand, leading her back as the song on the stereo changed.

“Chat this isn’t a good idea, believe me-” her voice raised an octave as he pulled her close to him in a spin before leading her to the beat of the song.

“Just… let’s just dance, Mari,” he said softly, breath tickling her ear.

As much as she wanted to fight, she couldn’t find in her. The part of him she found so endearing as Ladybug was winning over her regular self too. It was almost magnetising.

The beat felt a little awkward at first, not quite appropriate for Paso Doble or a Waltz, but as the verse continued and the bridge began, the beat picked up and they seemed to have found a rhythm. Chat lead her in some Paso Doble steps seemingly familiar with how well she was able to follow the music. Perhaps he just paid a lot of attention in the group classes, Marinette wondered in the back of her mind as they moved around the small space.

They stepped to the beat, Chat not leading anything to fancy, but when he stepped a certain way, his shoulders shifted and Marinette followed it through with an ocho, surprising both of them. Chat recovered quickly, leading her into a simple grapevine step and shooting her his signature grin.

“Seems you know more than you let on,” he laughed softly in her ear as he changed their steps. Marinette felt her cheeks colour with embarrassment as she had been caught out, but neither of them seemed to want to stop. Despite her hesitation, he changed their time, better fitting the beat, and began leading her into more ochos and grapevines.

As the song ended Marinette stepped away from him, both of their expressions soft, but unreadable.

“Well, that was… interesting,” Chat Noir grinned.

“Um, y-yeah, I guess so.” Marinette laughed softly. “I-I’ve never really danced the tango with anyone other than Sean once.”

“Oh? You seem pretty good at it,” he replied, his grin dropping to a small smile.

“I-it’s one of those things you have to have the chemistry for, I suppose,” Marinette said, turning and returning to the kitchen, eager for a distraction.

“Indeed,” Chat replied softly after a moment of watching her. “And I was able to move around in this quite comfortably, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“O-oh, right. Well, one less thing to worry about I suppose,” Marinette added, forcing a smile. She had wondered why the boy had been so adamant to dance. “D-do you want to get changed and then we can have something to eat?” she asked, gesturing to the plate she had been organising earlier.

“Sure.”

~~~~~

Adrien lay across Marinette’s marshmallow couch, music filling the room as she sat in her arm chair quietly hand stitching some final touches to his vest that she had suddenly decided she wanted to add.

His head was propped against the armrest, allowing him full view of the room while his legs hung over the other end. The whole scenario made him feel incredibly content. He was relaxing, the weight normally on his chest lifted for a little while, somewhere he felt safe, with someone he could trust, listening to music he enjoyed. If Ladybug were there, it would had been his perfect afternoon.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, Chaton. I can’t have you staying over tonight,” Marinette chided, not looking up from her hands.

“Why not? Got a boy coming over?” Adrien teased, gently tapping her arm with his foot and ignoring the knot in his stomach at his words.

“Oh please, I don’t have time for boys with you hanging around,” she rolled her eyes, putting the work down in her lap. Adrien felt his expression fall. Was he really stopping her from going out and living her life?

“It’s the curse of the designer once again,” Marinette cried dramatically, lifting her hand to her head before laughing. “I have to finish Ladybug’s dress.”

“Oh, right,” he forced a small laugh. Of course, she had chosen to work with him and Ladybug. This was what she was passionate about. And yet…

“What about Friday night?” the words spilt from his lips before he had a chance to think them through.

“Wh-what?”

“U-uh, I mean, well, what are you doing Friday night? We could hang out or something?” he managed to stammer out. Why was this so hard for him all of a sudden?

“O-oh, wow that’s… unexpected,” Marinette said after a moment, blinking one too many times.

“I-I’m sorry I don’t… I don’t know what possessed me to ask that. You’re probably going to be finishing Ladybug’s dress or working on an assignment or something,” Adrien back-pedalled. “S-sorry. I just meant that like, you deserve a break, yknow?”

Marinette recovered and sent him a fond smile, somehow making his nerves relax but his heart beat just a little bit faster.

“That’s really sweet of you Chat Noir, really, but Alya’s already scheduled me out for the evening,” she explained with a nervous laugh. “She’s taking me out to Nino’s club. Apparently, you aren’t the only one who thinks I work too hard.”

Adrien felt his chest relax a little more and the last of his tension release from his shoulders. Of course, Alya was already on it. She wouldn’t let Marinette lock herself away working forever. He tried to find his solace in that, but for some reason, he wasn’t satisfied.

“Did you want another cup of tea?” she asked, standing and taking her project with her to the kitchen.

“Uh, sure, why not. Do you have any more of those cookies left?” he asked, watching her carefully.

“Well, I do, but I don’t think Tikki would take very kindly to you if you eat them all,” Marinette smiled as she boiled the water and moved around in her kitchen. “I do however have some chocolate chip cookies from my parent’s bakery if you’d like?”

“Even better,” Adrien grinned, slouching back into the couch, pulling out his phone to check his messages. One from Gideon reminding him to call when he was ready to leave so he wouldn’t have to walk in the rain with his suit, and one from Nathalie reminding him of his commitments for the next morning. Idly he typed his replies and then opened the messenger app, logging out of Adrien Agreste and logging back in Chat Noir.

There was a little green light next to Ladybug’s picture and he felt a little jolt of joy as he typed out a message, asking her how her day was and if they could meet up later. No sooner had he sent it, Marinette was in front of him, holding a tea tray, his vest tucked under arm. Adrien helped her lower the tray to the coffee table, making sure no stray threads hit the cups of tea, when he heard Marinette’s phone go off.

“O-oh,” Marinette gave a start at the tone, her hands pulling away from the tray that thankfully was already safely on the table.

“You okay, Mari?” he asked.

“Y-yeah. Just custom tones, I forget about them sometimes,” she muttered, moving back to her chair and checking her phone.

Adrien took one of the large choc-chip cookies and sat back in the couch once again, watching Marinette as her eyes flickered to him and back to her phone.

“D-did you need me to go?”

“N-no. It’s just… it’s nothing, nevermind,” she forced a smile, putting her phone in her back pocket before sitting back in her chair and returning to her work, eyes flickering back to him after a moment.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, anxiously reading Ladybug’s message.

Ladybug: We can meet at usual time, minou. In the meantime, it’s rude to text when you’re with company.

The message was followed with a winking-face emoji and Adrien looked back up to Marinette.

“L-ladybug,” he muttered and she froze completely.

“W-what?”

“L-ladybug. It was… you…” Adrien took a moment, annoyed at himself for struggling to say a simple sentence. “Ladybug, she messaged you. You told her I was here,” he finally got out, shaking his head and reaching for his cup of tea.

Her shoulders seemed to drop. “O-oh, yeah. S-sorry about that,” she said with a kind smile and a small nod of her head.

“Did she ask about me, or did you just tell her I was here?” Adrien asked, unable to stop himself.

“U-uh... actually she seemed to know you were here,” Marinette explained as she removed the needle from the vest and began intently ravelling the excess thread. Before Adrien could ask anything more, she was up on her feet and gesturing for him to stand.

He obliged, letting her help him into the vest, and buttoning it up as she inspected her handiwork of the last two hours. A deep green paw print was now sewn on the left breast of his vest, the colour slightly brighter than the satin back half of the piece, but not so much that it distracted from the subtle green pinstripe pattern of the black front half of the vest.

Adrien grinned at her. “Purr-fection Princess, as always.”

“I’m glad you like it. Now make sure to take care of it. The vest can be machine washed in cold water as long as you put it in a pillow case first,” Marinette told him. “I just don’t quite trust my stitching on that paw print.”

“Mari, seriously, it’s perfect. You work really hard on your designs and it shows both in concept and quality,” he told her as he unbuttoned it and slid it from his shoulders before putting it back on the hanger and handing it to her.

“I don’t know about that, Chat. I’m no Gabriel Agreste who can get the best fabrics or machines. Uh, not to say that he isn’t talented otherwise, I mean, I actually quite look up to him, I mean, his work and his son, Adrien, he’s a gorgeous model, I mean, he’s good at what he does and he suits everything, which is probably a large reason why the Agreste line is so popular, wait, no that’s not what I meant, I just-”

“Hey, take a breath,” he told her, a soft smile on his face as he repeated what she had told him earlier that day. “You need to remember to breathe.”

“I-I…” she froze, looking at him, eyes wide for a moment before she shut them and took a deep breath. “Right, s-sorry.”

“You alright?”

“Y-yeah. You know, in some ways, you remind me of a friend of mine,” Marinette said with a soft chuckle.

“I-I do?” it was his turn to freeze up. Had he revealed too much somehow? Adrien decided to try and play it off. “He must be pretty cool then.”

She let out a chuckle. “I suppose. I think you’d get along well with him.” She fiddled with the hanger in her hand for a moment. “Maybe it’s because of how you are with Ladybug, I don’t know. That’s not a bad thing, though, I trust Sean a lot.”

Had she not had her back to him as she rearranged the items in the garment bag, she would have seen Adrien’s jaw drop in mild offense. He, Chat Noir, reminded her of her dance partner? Not his actual civilian self who was one of her close friends?

“Of course, you’re a little bit like Adrien too, I suppose,” she continued and Adrien immediately righted himself. “But that’s… complicated,” she sighed, handing him the garment bag.

“Oh?” this was news to him. Of course, the move made things a little complicated, but something in her tone hinted there was more he didn’t know.

“It doesn’t matter, Chaton,” Marinette put a smile back on. “Anyway, you want to get home so you can eat before your meeting with Ladybug, right?”

“Marinette… If it’s not too personal… do you not… do you not like Adrien?” He forced the words out, resolving that no matter her response he wouldn't let it affect their friendship. The girl pulled on her jacket, not saying a word, instead holding open the door for him.

Taking her silence as his answer, he hung his head, picking up his things and letting her follow him out and down the stairs. Had he not been so wrapped up in his disappointment, he would have noticed the way she chewed her bottom lip as she tried to find the words.

It wasn’t until they reached the final landing that Adrien realised the rain was crashing down outside. He muttered something about calling a friend to pick him up and dialled Gideon, explaining he, Chat Noir, was ready to go. His driver promised to be there in a couple of minutes and hung up.

Unsure of how to deal with the awkward wait with the girl who didn’t like him, Adrien shut his eyes, staring at the floor. He should have known, she was only trying to be kind with him. Afterall, he was friends with Chloe, someone she had never gotten along with, and also engaged to the same girl she couldn’t stand. How could he have been so stupid-

“It’s not that I don’t like Adrien,” Marinette’s quiet voice pierced through his thoughts as if he’d stepped outside into the rain. “He is a wonderful person. He… he reminds me of lazy summer days, the good ones,” she clarified a small smile on her face. The boy moved his eyes to her and she was staring out at the rain, her face conflicted as she tried to find words to fit her emotions. He didn’t want to move and mess her up.

“Adrien and I only met a little while ago, and it was… easy to get overwhelmed by him. Someone I admired for a long time was now part of my regular routine. I was a mess around him, even more clumsy than usual, and the fact that he was so kind only made him seem more… surreal.”

Adrien was holding his breath now, caught up in her words, feeling like the world would end if she couldn’t finish her explanation.

“I’ve gotten to know him, sides of him I never thought he’d had, because to me he had always been this unreal being in a bubble away from the real world. I guess I still find it hard to just forget that bubble version of him,” she sighed, sounding more upset with herself than anything.

“I can finally talk to him like a normal person, but then I go and do or say something that’s just a little bit different to how I normally act, and I get tongue-tied again. I think… I think he really thinks I don’t like him and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what made you think I didn’t like him. But Adrien… he really is a dear friend of mine. I know I can be kinda dumb and blindly loyal to some people who don’t always deserve it, but he… he really means a lot to me, and no matter what he’s going through, I’m going to support him, yknow? I want him to be able to count on me and I want to be able to finally get past the bubble that holds me back.”

She blinked and her eyes met his, realising he was watching her carefully and her cheeks immediately lit up. “P-please, just… if you see him, just tell him I don’t hate him okay? I’m just… still adjusting.” She wrapped one arm around herself and looked at the floor.

Adrien couldn’t feel or hear much else except for the pounding of his heart in his ears. If it hadn’t been for the bags in his arms, he would have hugged her tight. He thought about what he wanted to say to her, as Chat Noir now and as Adrien next time he saw her, but he didn’t have the chance as Gideon pulled up in a sleek black car and beeped the horn.

“Marinette,” the boy swallowed. “I don’t… I don’t think Adrien thinks you hate him either, and I think, I mean, I know, he thinks you’re as amazing as I do,” he smiled at her and her cheeks flushed darker. The horn honked again.

“That’s me though. Have a nice night, okay? Don’t work too hard, we all need you.” He pressed his back to the door, opened his umbrella and made his way to the car, pausing only to wave before he climbed into the car.

#ml fanfic #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #ballroom au #dance au #royalty au #aged au #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #lila rossi #nathaniel kurtzberg #chloe bourgeois #ao3

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