Miraculous Ladybug, "The Tell-Tale Kiss" ch. 7, rated T

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Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug & Chat Noir
Title: The Tell-Tale Kiss
Chapter Title: Seven - Love at the Lips
Pairing/Characters: Marinette (Ladybug), Adrien (Chat Noir), Tikki, Plagg, Marinette/Adrien
Word Count: 2259
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 recognized this kiss...

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.

“Love at the Lips was touch as sweet as I could bear.”

-- Robert Frost

Chapter Seven - Love at the Lips

They were tangled in each other’s arms, and their lips began to touch tentatively, finding the angle where they perfectly fit.

Marinette panicked, and as she froze in his arms, Adrien wondered if she would waver from uncertainty. When he felt her lean more into the kiss, he took that as a gesture of permission, and he held her tighter against his chest, ignoring the strewn papers everywhere and enjoying the warm, hot feeling of her lips on his. She relaxed against him, and they completely gave themselves to the kiss, reveling in it and delighting in their shared tastes.

His arm lazily dropped to the small of her back, and she moaned into his mouth. Her enjoyment only motivated him to continue, and then suddenly he realized something familiar about this kiss. 

He’d kissed these lips before. He’d tasted this same taste before. 

He broke the kiss and looked at Marinette with shock, pulling them out of their heady moment. His shock, of course, was where he’d felt that kiss before; however, Marinette seemed to take his reaction differently. She looked embarrassed and rejected.

Adrien wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the right words. He didn’t hate the kiss, and he most certainly didn’t reject her. Marinette didn’t know that though. Marinette didn’t know that he was looking at her with surprise because of something else - something earth-shattering that jarred all his thought processes and stilled his words.

Marinette kissed like Ladybug. Adrien wanted to burst with joy, but he held back. He couldn’t let her know that he knew her secret identity! And his suspicions had been right too. Marinette was Ladybug, and the truth of that made him want to jump over the moon.

“I...I... I’m sorry, Adrien! I shouldn’t have kissed you without...I’m sorry!” she immediately cried, and she looked away from his surprised gaze. He had never seen her face this red before.

“It’s okay,” he said finally, his words coming out soft. He looked at her awestruck, but he tried to reel himself back to earth. He didn’t want her to know that he figured out her identity as Ladybug. When the time was right, it was her secret to tell of course, if she wanted to. “I um… didn’t want to kiss you without your say-so either.” It was a good excuse, so he used it. “I realized that I might… um... be taking advantage of you.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously. He too looked away from her eyes. 

“No, no, I...um…” she began awkwardly. “I wanted to…” Her voice squeaked and she was so embarrassed that she hid her face in her hands. She groaned, and Adrien watched her with fondness. He smiled and tapped her hands where she was hiding her face. Cautiously, she looked out through her fingers and then slowly pulled down her hands. He met her bright blue eyes and he felt spellbound. 

“I wanted to also, Marinette… but um, not like that,” he said. “I wished it could have been more special for you.”

Marinette gawked for a moment like she couldn’t believe he just said that. She waved her arms and shook her head.

“No, no, it was great, um… don’t worry about that,” she said nervously. “It was my own stupid fault for being clumsy and falling on you. I didn’t intend to um...invade your space like that. I’m sorry, Adrien.”

He chuckled at her, and when she looked away he put his finger under her chin lightly to lead her back to his gaze.

“Really, Marinette, I didn’t mind,” he said, and his cheeks felt hot as he continued to reassure her, which turned into another sort-of-confession on his part. “You have always been my good friend, and now...um...I think I might feel something more.” He added after a long sigh. “It’s just a little complicated...uh, I’m sort of confused.”

Marinette eyes widened as she stared at him, and she gave him one quick nod before they both realized the complexity of it all. Adrien confessed to Ladybug, but Marinette was Ladybug. Adrien knew this, and he shared his feelings with Marinette despite her being Ladybug. Well, at least she didn’t know that he was aware of her identity, and he certainly didn’t want her to think that he had knowingly confessed to two different girls.

Adrien broke the awkward silence between them and rose from the floor. “Uh, why don’t we, um...meet at lunch tomorrow at school and go over the project then? I’ll do a little research myself and then you can bring your notes from before?” He shot her a megawatt smile. 

She nodded, and he began gathering his stuff. “I apologize that I won’t be able to stay for dinner. Maybe another time?”

“Sure,” she said with a soft smile. He was already making way to the hatch to leave her room until she called him back. “Adrien…?” 

“Yes?” he said, turning toward her. He watched her fidget nervously in front of him again. 

“Do you want me to walk you out?” she asked hopefully.

“Um, normally I would say yes, but I’d have to resist the urge to kiss you goodbye,” he said. “I’m not sure your parents and my bodyguard are ready for that.”

She shot him a determined look, and she made her way over to him before he could descend down the hatch. “Then kiss me goodbye now.”

He gasped, his eyes not leaving hers. He nodded once and then leaned close enough to rub her nose. He closed his eyes, and he stopped himself. He watched her part her lips, ready for him. “Better not,” he said in a whisper. It was her turn to gasp, but he didn’t move, enjoying her warm breath on his cheek. “Then I won’t be able to leave.”

Marinette tensed as she felt the meaning of his words, and when she stepped back, he gave her a lazy grin that feigned innocence, but the two of them knew better than that. 

“Goodnight, Marinette,” he said, and he took her hand and pressed a light kiss on the top before turning around and leaving her bedroom. The look of wanting on her face would haunt his dreams tonight, and he would definitely regret not properly kissing her goodbye.

---

From her window, Marinette watched Adrien leave her house and get into his limo. His bodyguard briefly looked up at her, and she assumed he was trained to sense when someone was watching them. His expression didn’t change, and he finally re-entered the limo and drove off with his charge.

Marinette heaved a contented sigh and flopped herself onto her bed. She ignored the mess in her room as her thoughts were elsewhere, swimming into a euphoric fantasy with Adrien as she replied the events of the day.

“Well, Marinette, things certainly have gotten complicated,” Tikki finally said, and Marinette shook her head.

“I don’t really think so, Tikki,” she said confidently. 

“Are you sure?” Tikki prodded her. “Adrien confessed to Ladybug and Ladybug returned his feelings! Now you and Adrien have kissed! I can’t imagine what Adrien is feeling right now, but I’m sure he’s confused!”

“Maybe,” Marinette said, biting her lip and tapping her chin as she mulled over the situation. “Even if Adrien is confused, I think I can still win him over as Marinette, and then I won’t have to date him as Ladybug. I won’t have to put him in danger from Hawkmoth.”

“Do you think Adrien could switch his feelings so easily?” Tikki asked.

“Maybe he sees Ladybug as a celebrity crush?” Marinette said. “I mean, I don’t want to belittle his feelings, but if he has feelings for me, isn’t it easier for him to be with me, plain old Marinette, rather than a superhero?”

Tikki frowned. She didn’t look convinced, but Marinette was confident everything would work out. 

“Besides, wasn’t it the plan all along to get Adrien to fall for me and not Ladybug?” Marinette asked. 

“Well,” Tikki said. “I thought that was the plan, but then you challenged him to find out who Ladybug was. I’m wondering if that’s still something Adrien wants to figure out.”

Marinette waved a hand, unfazed by Tikki’s skepticism. “Then maybe it’s time for me to step up my game. Now that I know Adrien is into me, it’ll be a lot easier for me to convince him to like me and forget about Ladybug. Sure, he may still admire her, but I know I can get his focus on me.”

“Hrmmm,” Tikki said. “And how will Ladybug take this news?” Tikki was sure playing Devil’s advocate to the max this time. “She’s going to be heartbroken he know longer likes her back.”

Marinette shook her head and grinned. “Oh, I’m sure Ladybug will understand. She’ll eventually just have to get over it.”

--

The next day, Adrien had rushed to school that morning, ready to take his seat next to Marinette. For once, Marinette was also on time for school, and she seemed to have a bounce in her step as she took her place next to her project partner. Their eyes met for a long moment, and they smiled at each other shyly. 

“Good morning,” he said, his face feeling hot again.

“G-g-good morning, Adrien,” she said back, and they shifted nervously in their seats. Adrien began tapping his pencil against the desk, while Marinette ruffled through her notebook, fanning the pages out of a nervous tick.

“Pssst!” said a voice behind them. They both turned to Ayla, who was sitting with her partner Mylene. Ayla looked like she was cooking up some devious plan, and Mylene was staring at them adoringly.

“What is up with you two? Tell me the deets now...” Ayla demanded, and they were grateful the teacher hadn’t arrived yet so they could talk. The entire classroom was buzzing with chatter and people shifting around in their seats. Ayla knew the perfect time to strike, and that was when Ms. Bustier wasn’t keeping a watchful eye over them.

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other with shock, not realizing they had been that obvious in their behavior. Marinette peeked around the classroom wondering if anyone else had noticed how they were acting, and sure enough, Lila and Chloe were both glaring daggers at her. Chloe was huffing, narrowing her eyes at Marinette, ready to intervene if Marinette laid a hand on her Adrikins. Lila’s scowl at Marinette was even scarier, and the girl looked as though she’d be akumatized at any second.

“Well?” Ayla brought their attention back on her. “You seriously can’t make believe there isn’t anything going on here.”

“Well…” Adrien began. 

“We kind of sort of maybe...kissed,” Marinette said, whispering kiss, though feeling silly that it was any easy word to read from any lips. She didn’t dare look at Chloe and Lila, but she could feel their anger. Great. She was sure the bullying would become even worse. Ayla stared at Adrien, looking for confirmation.

Adrien let out a nervous chuckle. “Guilty as charged.”

“Look, it happened kind of randomly when we were working on a project. We haven’t really… um, discussed stuff yet,” Marinette said. 

“Uh huh,” Ayla said, but she was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Does that mean you guys are…” Mylene began happily.

“Uh, actually, I was just going to ask Marinette on a date before class started,” Adrien said, his voice still as low as a whisper. 

“You were?” Marinette asked, turning to him with flushed cheeks.

“Well, yeah, um… are you free on Thursday night? It’s one of the few times I have open in my schedule,” he said. 

“You mean, one of the few times you can sneak out of the house?” Ayla said with a knowing chuckle.

“Well, there is that too,” Adrien said. “My bodyguard will always be with me, but… I think he can be bribed to let us go to a movie…You are good at baking, and I happened to know that he really enjoys tiramisu.”

“Heh, of course,” Marinette said, and she locked eyes with him in a euphoric state. “I would love to go with you.” 

“Pick you up at 8?” he asked, getting caught up in the moment. She nodded, letting out an inaudible response of approval.

“And don’t forget the Tiramisu,” Mylene said with a giggle. 

“Leave it to me,” Marinette said, and then she turned back to Adrien and they became caught in a moony stare. 

Ayla whistled at them.

“Way to go, Agreste,” Ayla said, but Adrien acted as though he didn’t hear her. He was too focused on Marinette, her beautiful blue eyes, adorable pig-tails, and those rosy lips he was desperate to kiss again. 

When Ms. Bustier entered the classroom, all of the students gave her their attention as she began the lessons for the day. Adrien concentrated the best he could, but he really wanted nothing more than to grab Marinette’s hand, run them out of the class, and find a private place so they could kiss again. 

She looked over at him briefly during the lecture and shot him another smile and licked her lips. Adrien’s chest warmed, his heart beating faster. 

A goofy grin stretched over his face, and he knew, without a doubt, that he was completely gone on her.

.