Miraculous Ladybug, "The Tell-Tale Kiss" chapter 5, rated T

[paynesgrey]

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug & Chat Noir
Title: The Tell-Tale Kiss
Chapter Title: Five - As Luck Would Have It
Pairing/Characters: Marinette (Ladybug), Adrien (Chat Noir), Tikki, Plagg, Marinette/Adrien
Word Count: 1502
Genre: Humor/Romance
Rating: T
Spoilers: Up to Season 2 (for now)

Notes: This is a new multi-chapter fic though it won't be too long. I've written a few chapters and have the rest outlined. For now, this first chapter is written for my "major" prompt for the Summer Mini Challenge. Characters are aged up about a few years, around 16 years old. Canon divergent from Season 2/3.

Notes for this Chapter: Adrien asks Ladybug out...but the super model may have to wait.

Other Links: FFnet | AO3

Summary: Adrien has had enough. If Ladybug won't accept him as Chat Noir, well, then maybe she'll say yes to Paris's top male model? When she gives her answer, he doesn't expect what comes next.

 Chapter Five: As Luck Would Have It

 

 

“You look like death,” Plagg said to Adrien. The teen model was still smiling but there were bags under his eyes, and he looked like he was going to fall asleep standing up.

 

“Totally worth it,” Adrien said with a happy sigh. He managed as sleepy smile, and yawned as he stretched his arms.

 

“Hey, man, you look like you had trouble with that homework last night,” a voice said behind him, and Adrien turned and met his best friend’s eyes. Nino was walking up to him with Ayla next to him. Adrien searched for Marinette, wondering if his friend would be tardy once again.

 

Then, he saw her…

 

“Good morning!” She began running toward them, holding another white box of goodies, and gracing them with a sunny smile.

 

That wasn’t what had caught him off guard. No, his jaw dropped as Adrien took in the outfit she was wearing — some slim, reflective black capris and light gray knee socks with Mary Janes on her feet. And her shirt... a skintight with a tasteful V-neck and patterned with ladybug spots. He couldn’t take his eyes off her even when she approached them.

 

“Adrien? Want a dark chocolate cherry macaroon?” Stunned, he stared into her bright blue eyes. Automatically, he dipped his finger into the box for a macaroon with cherry cream sandwiched between semi-sweet chocolate wafers. She smiled at him, and his heart almost had free-fallen in his chest when she licked her lips.

 

“Mmm! Marinette, this is so good!” Nino exclaimed, drawing him out of his Marinette-reverie, and Ayla moaned next to him as she savored her first bite.

 

“Totally, girl, this is the food of the gods,” she said, and she gave her friend a wink. “And they almost match your outfit, which is also awesome, by the way.”

 

“Another Marinette original!” she said, glancing at Adrien and settling on his still-stunned gaze. “What can I say... I was inspired.”

 

Adrien smiled at her cordially and then he shook his head, focused on grabbing some more macaroons before Nino ate them all.

 

Nino and Ayla got lost in their own world, and they walked ahead of them into the school. Adrien trailed behind them, enjoying the savory flavor of Marinette’s macaroons as she caught up beside him. She leaned into him playfully and he almost choked on a macaroon. He looked over and she smiled with a huge blush on her face. She held up her hand conspiratorially and whispered, “Don’t worry. This time I saved some for you that Nino and Ayla don’t have to know about.” She winked at him and began to skip ahead happily to catch up to their friends. Adrien trailed behind them all, watching Marinette disappear inside the school as he hovered by the door. Other students walked past him, and he was stunned by the way Marinette was acting toward him.

 

“You got that look again,” said a voice in his pocket. Of course Plagg would notice Adrien’s behavior. He would also take it as an opportunity to tease him.

 

Adrien frowned and rolled his eyes. “What look, Plagg?” he answered him, and his gaze swept the area and he made sure that no one was around to hear them. Luckily, all of his classmates had made it inside the school.

 

“That look that you always have for Marinette when she’s being cute,” Plagg said, and then he stuck out his tongue and mocked a gag.

 

“Marinette is always cute,” Adrien said, and he huffed. “I don’t know what look you’re talking about.”

 

“Oh, you do, you just don’t want to admit it, and here I thought you only had eyes for Ladybug,” the kwami teased.

 

“Marinette is just a good friend. I care about her a lot; I’m just… well, don’t you think she’s acting kind of odd lately? Like she’s…”

 

“Flirting with you?” Plagg suggested.

 

“No! I mean, well… She did say she wasn’t into me, but all of the sudden she seems to be less nervous around me,” Adrien said, tapping his chin with his finger. His kwami scoffed.

 

“I am so disappointed. Why did Master Fu pick someone as dense as you! Maybe it’s because you’re so young,” Plagg complained, and Adrien wasn’t sure whether or not he was being serious.

 

“No…” he said, and then he laughed it off, trying to imagine Marinette liking him as more than a friend. Wasn’t she seeing Juleka’s older brother Luka? He remembered the way they looked at each other; he was sure something was there. “I’m pretty sure she is seeing Luka -- you know, Juleka’s brother? There is no way she’d see me the same way she saw him…Plus, as you said. I’m … well, I love Ladybug and we have feelings for each other.”

 

“Yes, but Ladybug has not given you her answer yet, and she more than hinted for you to find out who she is out of the costume,” Plagg said, and then he added. “It would be really hard to be in a relationship with her in the costume, as it does not come off… not unless, well, you know, you de-transform.”

 

Adrien blushed and slapped a hand to his mouth. He’d always imagined Ladybug out of her costume, but to hear Plagg say something like that out loud jump-started his imagination again. He imagined a naked Ladybug so vividly in his mind he was immediately embarrassed at how much it excited him.

 

Plagg only burst out laughing, which further irritated Adrien. He exhaled a heavy breath and pushed through the school doors and Plagg retreated back into his pocket. The hallways were deserted, and Adrien quickened his pace to his homeroom.

 

“You teenagers… Your hormones are so strange... like shopping in a cheese superstore. So many choices… so many delicious possibilities…” Plagg went on.

 

“You compare everything to cheese,” Adrien said with a soft laugh. “Even love.”

 

Plagg scoffed. “Well, excuse me, I know nothing else as amazing as cheese; therefore, it’s the only comparison I can give.”

 

Adrien sighed again, and before he pulled open the door to the classroom, he said, “Well, here goes.”

 

“I wonder what Marinette will do next that will leave you speechless,” Plagg said, his tone was filled with mirth. Adrien couldn’t help it and his gaze met hers before he took his seat. He was sure the teacher scolded him for arriving late, but he couldn’t hear it exactly. Marinette was looking at him with that big, cheeky smile, and she was holding her arms together so that he had another good look at the V-neck shirt of hers that accentuated her bosom.

 

Oh crap… he thought to himself.

 

He shot her a feeble smile before settling into his seat, and he had an errant thought float in his head at how similar Marinette was to Ladybug.

 

“Alright, class, now that everyone is here,” Ms. Bustier shot Adrien a pointed look, but then continued. “I’d like to announce our next big project. You’ll be working in pairs for this, so I’ll be calling up half the class to pick out names from this box. Call out your partner’s name, change your seats to pair up with them, and we will begin discussing the conditions of the assignment. Every pair would be given one historical figure of Paris and will make a creative presentation detailing their contributions to French society.”

 

The class let out a collective groan and the teacher immediately shushed them. Adrien felt some anxiety as he did not want to be paired with Lila, and looking back at Marinette, he guessed she felt the same way. And Chloe too, as his childhood friend had a knack for not during her own work and leaving it up to whomever her partner was.

 

The first couple of students were called up. Ivan was paired with Max. Sabrina paired with Juleka, and Chloe paired with Lila. Nathan was paired with Nino, and Ayla paired with Mylene.

 

“Marinette!” Ms. Bustier called her up, and he watched as she made her way up to the front of the class, reaching into the box to pick out one of the remaining names. He saw the surprise on her face, and then watched as a pretty blush painted her cheeks. “Looks like your partner is Adrien.”

 

She gave a shy nod, and as she went back to her seat, she met his eyes. She gave him a sheepish smile, and he smiled back, feeling both lucky and doomed that he was her partner. That meant they would get to spend a lot of time together, and maybe Adrien could sort through his thoughts and figure out what sort of feelings he really had about her.

 

He was definitely attracted to her, and though he had confessed to Ladybug and she acknowledged his feelings, for some reason he didn’t feel any guilt or shame for liking Marinette either.

 

He sighed. Plagg was right. Teenage hormones were weird.

.