unexpected feelings | marichat

chapter forty-two

lila cursed fervently under her breath as she watched the news coverage of ladybug and chat noir's most recent victory. she was so sick of seeing people idolize them. what was so good about an annoying bug and her clueless catboy sidekick, anyway?
a flash of red before her made her finally look away from her screen, and she seethed at the sight of ladybug a few feet away, ducking behind a recycling bin and looking around frantically. from where she stood, lila was invisible to ladybug, but she had a front row seat to whatever the spotted heroine was doing.
   lila pointed her phone camera at ladybug, just in case she could catch something interesting. what i wouldn't do to shove that stupid yo-yo down her-
a flash of bright pink light surrounded ladybug for a second, and when it disappeared, ladybug was gone. in her place was marinette dupain-cheng. lila dropped her phone mid-recording. marinette- ladybug?!- muttered something to the tiny red creature in her hand and took off, stuffing the thing in her purse hastily.
lila gawked. she would have probably screamed if her voice weren't failing her. because how in the world was marinette, of all people, ladybug?! it made zero sense. marinette was clumsy, and insecure, and childish, and couldn't even muster a coherent sentence when adrien was around. and ladybug, despite her annoying demeanor, was, well, ladybug!
but then again... marinette was conveniently never around during akuma attacks, and she and ladybug had never been seen in the same place at once. they both wore those horrible pigtails, and both seemed to have a crush on both adrien and chat noir. ignoring the fact that they both also seemed to have the blonde model and the cat wrapped around their little pinkies. gross.
and they both annoyed lila to pieces. both disgustingly loved people who absolutely did not deserve the attention they got. and, if that wasn't proof enough, she'd literally just caught her de-transforming!
a wicked idea hit lila as soon as the initial shock wore off. she could definitely kill two birds- the same bird, but who else would know?- with one stone. because now she knew who ladybug was. and she could have a lot of fun with it. she knew one person in particular who would definitely eat up this information. and he would have just as much fun making marinette's- god, ladybug's!- life an abomination.
lila laughed out loud as she picked up her phone and sauntered off, dialing a familiar number as she went. wow, she was stupid in and out of that mask. de-transforming behind a recycling bin?? in plain sight?? it was literally miraculous that she hadn't been caught up until now. but ladybugs were lucky, lila supposed. thank god that luck had reached her today.
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adrien's pov
   ms. bustier's party was in roughly three hours, but my excitement overrode my common sense, so now i sat at my piano, fully dressed, showered, and ready to go. plagg lay before me, napping peacefully on the keys.
   the sound of a knock on my door shocked him awake, however, and he quickly hid inside the piano before anyone could see him.
   "come in!" i called, and was extremely surprised to find my father coming into my room. i stood up and smiled, pleased that he had taken time out of his busy schedule to see me. "father! how are you?"
   "i'm doing well, adrien, thank you. are you practicing your piano?"
   "i was, but if you'd like me to i could save it for later, father," i offered, and he nodded once.
   "join me for lunch, then," he said, turning around and heading towards the dinner table. i followed, a slight bounce in my step. when was the last time i'd eaten with him? it felt like ages ago. i hoped this would be a more regular occurrence.
   i sat stiffly across from him as he stared intensely at the large laptop in front of him. he seemed to keep zooming in and out of something important, maybe a design or a new ad campaign. something must be going wrong with it, though, because he was scowling at it as if it had personally wronged him.
   "is everything okay, father?"
   he seemed to remember that i was in front of him and he abruptly shut the laptop, smiling serenely at me as if he hadn't just been sending death glares to an electronic device.
   "everything is perfect, adrien. i was just looking at a few designs that friend of yours... marinette dupain-cheng, submitted to me just last month. the young lady is very promising," he explained, and i immediately blushed upon hearing marinette's name. i took a sip of my juice and collected myself. marinette and i were just friends, who definitely did not kiss yesterday at all. nope.
   "oh, she is, father! i've seen so many of her designs, she's incredible! did you see that dress kagami wore to mayor bourgeois' ball? marinette designed that!" i said enthusiastically, and my father quirked an eyebrow curiously. he obviously had to love marinette's designs. after all, he gave me a scarf she designed for my birthday last year.
   "yes, it was quite a show-stopping dress. you seem to appreciate this young lady's company very much. does miss dupain-cheng have any other... talents besides designing?"
   i had no idea what marinette's other talents had to do with her talent as a designer, but i was happy my father was finally taking an interest in one of my friends, so i ignored the confusion creeping up on me.
"oh, yes! she's extremely talented. she has some of the top marks in our class, and she's amazing at drawing and painting and practically anything in arts and crafts! i wish i could show you some of the stuff she's made for art class, or even for herself. she's a great writer, too. oh, did you know she designed the cover of jagged stone's last album? isn't that incredible! yeah, she's really amazing, and she's super nice. always putting others before herself. she's super talented father," i rambled, though that was only a small taste of what marinette truly was. father nodded slowly, processing everything i'd just told him.
"you seem to like this young lady a lot, adrien. is there anything going on between you two?" he asked. my eyes widened. how transparent was i?
"oh, no! of course not, father. marinette is just a friend," i assured him, giving a nervous laugh. he nodded, still appearing unconvinced.
"right. are you aware of any hobbies she may have after-school? perhaps these are helping her become more skilled."
i scrunched my face up in confusion. how would her hobbies- no, never mind. it was the thought that counted, i supposed, and i should be thankful he was interested in knowing more about marinette. maybe this meant i could be around her more often. or maybe he was even planning to give her an opportunity in agreste fashion!
"she loves video games. she's so good at them too, i don't think anyone could rival her at them. oh, and besides that, she loves hanging around her friends, and baking! baking too, since her family does own the best bakery in paris. most of her hobbies are included in her talents, though."
my father hummed, and i wished i could know what was going on inside his head. "she certainly does spend a lot of time with chat noir. he must be a very close friend of hers," he said, almost accusingly. i felt beads of sweat forming on my forehead. did he know something?
"ohh, yeah! haha, their uh, friendship is, um, beautiful," i choked, laughing unconvincingly and looking down. he wasn't even looking at me, though. he stared at his closed computer, burning holes into it with his eyes.
"it certainly is. well, i believe this dupain-cheng girl seems like quite a proper... friend. i'd like to see her around more often. i would enjoy getting to know this aspiring designer," he said, smiling stiffly. that was probably a grin in his book, though. i nearly jumped out of my chair out of excitement. my father approves of marinette!
an idea struck me. "oh, i know father! what if she came around today, before the baby shower? it wouldn't be for long, but i can bring her over more times, if you'd like. we could even walk to the park from here together!" i suggested. he raised a brow.
"that's a good idea. see at what time she can come," he instructed, and i could feel the corners of my cheeks hurting from how hard i must have been smiling. he didn't even question letting us walk to the park without my bodyguard!
"of course, father! i'll text her right away."
"perfect, son."
at exactly 2:36 pm, marinette showed up at our gate, and i was almost jumping with joy. how often did i get to have friends over? and, not just any friend, marinette, of all people! i had almost given up all hope of being able to see her regularly now that chat noir and her were on a.... pause, but this opened up a world of possibilities. if this went well, perhaps i wouldn't have to stop seeing her so often.
i quickly let her in and headed outside to greet her. she carried a large gift bag in her hands, and seemed to be way out of breath. she caught sight of me and waved excitedly.
"hi! sorry i'm late, we had a huge order to complete at the bakery and then i had to shower and get ready and then i ran here so i'm probably super sweaty... ew, pretend i didn't say that," she rambled, hitting her forehead with her hand. i smiled. why did she have to be so adorable? how is she going to be 'just a friend' again?
"don't worry, marinette. you look perfect," i assured her, and she blushed. i noticed the necklace i'd given her as chat noir hanging proudly from her neck, and i almost melted. "i love your necklace, too."
"thank you, adrien. and yeah, haha, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. oh, uh, is your dad in there?" she asked, pointing at the open door. i nodded and took the gift bag from her, and she sighed when the weight was lifted.
"yeah, he's in the foyer. let's go in." i held out my other hand to her, and she hesitated before finally linking hers through mine and allowing me to walk her inside. holding hands felt different without my suit. i was finally able to feel marinette's skin on mine, and it was warm and soft and everything good in the world.
   as i had expected, my father waited for us at the staircase. he seemed to tense up when i brought marinette inside, but it must have been because he wasn't used to having others at our house.
   "hello, miss dupain-cheng. i'm glad you could make it. my son has said many great things about you," he greeted, making marinette blush for a second time since she arrived.
   "oh, uh, really? he has? i mean, hello mr. agreste! i'm so happy you told adrien to invite me for a few minutes."
   my father smiled slightly at her and came closer to us. "why, yes, of course. you have lots of potential in the fashion industry, and i am sure that if i got to know you better, i could see if you are fit for a place at agreste fashion." marinette squealed with joy and squeezed my hand, hard.
   "really? thank you!!"
   "no need to thank me. i just noticed your earrings. did you make those as well?" my father questioned, and marinette's free hand immediately went to her ear. i felt her tense up beside me, so i squeezed her hand in hopes of reassuring her.
   "oh, these old things? haha, no, my, um.... my uncle gave them to me a few years back," she said, smiling. my father nodded, though something in his expression told me he wasn't convinced.
   "hm. where is your uncle from? they really are quite... lovely." my eyebrows knitted together for a second. lovely? i mean, they did look lovely on marinette but... he could probably find some similar anywhere in the world. why the sudden interest in marinette's? she had so many other designs besides these.
   "ah, um, he's from... he bought them from the kingdom of achu! yeah, he... he went on a trip to achu a few years back and bought them for me there!"
   "i see. can i see them? i would love to base a design off of them," he said, reaching slightly towards the earrings. marinette's hand went back up to her ear. she was even tenser now. i frowned. this wasn't going how i'd expected it to go. now marinette seemed almost upset, and i couldn't even pinpoint why.
   "ah, uh, sorry mr. agreste but i'd rather not take them off. they're... they're very important to me. they're the last gift i got from my uncle, before he... uh, yeah, i'm sorry. they're just very special," she explained, and i wanted to hug her. that's why she seemed so tense.
   "that makes sense. i understand that some things with emotional value can be very hard to part with. those do seem like very... special earrings," my father nodded, retracting his hand. marinette relaxed a little.
   "thank you for understanding, mr. agreste. i can find you a similar pair, if you'd like," marinette offered.
   "that won't be necessary. do take good care of them, though. i must be off now, thank you for coming. i'm sure my son can entertain you as you wait to go to that party," my father said, retreating to his study. marinette let out a little sigh as soon as we heard the door close.
"i know he's your dad and all, but sometimes, he intimidates me. i still can't believe THE gabriel agreste even knows who i am," she giggled, releasing her hand from mine to smooth down her pigtails.
"well, believe it! i think he really likes you, which is... saying a lot. he's not too keen on letting my friends come over," i said, and she frowned a little. i smiled before the mood could be fully dampened.
"there's still a few minutes until we have to leave, should we go to my room?"
she followed me upstairs and into my room, and i sighed in relief when i remembered that plagg had not been eating cheese before i came in. the room smelled perfectly clean. i put marinette's gift by the door. she had already strayed to another part of my room, exploring everything. i smiled.
   "your room is massive! this isn't even the first time i'm in here, but wow!" she went wide eyed with every turn of her head.
   "i'd gladly trade with you if you'd like. yours is cozy."
"too cozy for someone as rich as you, mr. model," she teased.
   i feigned my best crazy rich movie person impression, which wasn't hard considering i'd spent a good chunk of my time around people that fit the mold perfectly. "alas, i am afraid you are correct, marinette! how could i force myself to live in such horrible conditions, when i am already forced to live like this!"
   marinette giggled before focusing on a shelf i'd hastily put up a few months ago. it held a few of the things i'd bought at disneyland when i'd gone with her as chat noir. she seemed to recognize a lot of them, and i gulped.
   "you've been to disney?" she asked me, picking up the cat stuffie i'd bought.
   "uh, yeah! pretty um... recently, actually," i replied nervously. she nodded, her eyebrows still creased at the stuffed cat she held.
   "you sure seem to have the same taste in park goodies as chat noir," she muttered, setting down the cat. i silently praised myself for not putting up the pictures we'd taken that day up on the wall.
   "he must have good taste. you, uh, you went with him, right?"
   she nodded and finally looked away from the shelf. i sighed in relief, though would it really be such a tragedy if she figured out who i was? yes, because how would ladybug react?
   "he's such a scaredy-cat! but it was a really fun day," she recalled, blushing a little at the memory. i mirrored her blush. "oh, but, uh, we should all go together one day! i'm sure you both would be good friends."
   i laughed. "yeah, he seems pretty paw-some."

(a/n: stfu why did nobody tell me july ninth was marinette's bday. its too late to even incorporate it now ugh, did they even mention it on the show help i need to rewatch the older seasons again, also hi ive been revisiting my older chapters and editing some prts bc grammar errors and such, no story changes just fixing errors so sorry this took a tiny bit longer than usual i was fixing things lol luv yall <3)