The Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

You Belong With Me

okay I'm resorting to inspiration from Taylor Swift somebody get the macaroni or nachos or whatever because i got the cheese

Adrien was the definition of the boy next door.

Kind, caring, funny, energetic, overall a good guy. Oh, and he was unfairly handsome. 

Too bad she was just a nerd who lived next door to him. Too bad he was taken by the Mayor's daughter, Chloe. Too bad they'd never really had a conversation without the cards or his girlfriend interrupting them. 

And so, here Marinette was. Doing her homework quietly, fixing her bulky glasses every time they slipped down her nose, listening to the mainstream music flowing out of the radio. Her curtain was open, she let the beautiful night sky inspire her to draw.. once her homework was actually finished.  She happened to glance up, watching him pace around his room, obviously agitated and looking like he was trying to reason with whoever he was talking to on the phone. Probably Chloe.

She looked away hurriedly when he took the phone away from his ear, but after a thought decided to ask.

Taking out her notepad and her red marker, she uncapped it with her mouth and wrote a note. You okay?

He looked over, green eyes weary and dull. They were like that these days. She missed when they'd sparkle with life. He half-smiled at her message, taking out his own notepad and marker.

Tired of drama. In his signature forest green writing, he lifted a shoulder. 

He looked so drained. Her heart twisted painfully as she wrote back Sorry.

He just shrugged again, as if to say what can you do? 

She bit her lip, before sucking in a breath and deciding to write one last message, hopefully one that would change both their lives.

Marinette held up her note, the red I love you bright and wistful in the moonlight, only to see his curtain closed. A sigh escaped her lips. She finally worked up the courage... and he wasn't there to see her be brave.

"You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset..."

Seriously?! Did her life have to be a Taylor Swift music video cliche?! (yes Mar. yes it does.)

...maybe she could indulge herself. Nobody was looking, after all. Alya wouldn't shame her other secret love. She'd never know.

Grabbing a hairbrush, she started dancing (dorkily) and singing (terribly) to the song, You Belong With Me, that was strangely similar to her current situation. She jumped around her room, spinning, flipping her hair and generally dancing like someone who's never danced in their life, or seen someone else dance probably.

She forgot about her open curtain.

~*~

That morning, she sat on a bench, waiting for the bus to come with her bag and an open book. Books were great. The feel of the paper between your fingers, the smell of the pages and the ink, sometimes just smelling like paper and sometimes strangely like vanilla. (IDK WHY BUT SOME BOOKS JUST SMELL LIKE VANILLA) Hard back books were her favourite, the covers never bent from over reading. In fact, this particular book was an extremely exciting and aggravating tale about two superheroes, wherein one was in love with her civilian friend who was actually her partner who was in love with his superhero partner who was actually his friend who was in love with him and they were both annOYINGLY OBLIVIOUS-

Hey, look, Adrien's walking over.

"Hey, Marinette. Whatcha reading?" His smile was warm as he sat next to her, not knowing how her heart sped up and her eyes grew brighter.