Venom: A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Adrien-Chapter 2

            Adrien didn't know what he had expected. He knew for months he would be the one to pick Marinette up from the station and somehow he envisioned her leaping out of the train and into his arms and he'd spin her around and around, but awkwardly enough, nothing happened. He had been so taken off guard by her unexpected beauty that hadn't been there quite as much after graduating high school. Now he felt as if he could hardly look her in the eye. Being around her suddenly made him nervous when it hadn't usually before. She looked so different. Instead of her normal high school piggytails, she had long flowing black hair and her big blue eyes looked so much bigger and bluer than he remembered. Not to mention her figure...

He immediately shook the thought out of his head. It didn't matter what his initial reaction to her was. To be honest, he was still pining for Ladybug.

Involuntarily, he let out a loud sigh, loud enough for Marinette to hear, but thankfully she didn't say anything. Ladybug had left without warning several years ago, and Paris hasn't felt the same since without her. She had been his best friend, his partner in crime—or anti-crime for that matter—and he kept waiting for her to come back but she never did. He decided that it had been time to move on from the delusion that he and Ladybug could ever be something, and he found himself a girlfriend named Alyssa. She seemed nice and they've been dating for a couple months so far. Though he just kept waiting for their relationship to stop feeling so...empty.

"So what have you been up to in my absence?" Marinette asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. When Adrien glanced over at her again, he nearly had a heart attack once again. She was strikingly beautiful.

"Well, after my father came home from the hospital, he hasn't been breathing down my neck quite as much," Adrien laughed, but then he sobered for a moment. His father got hurt during one of Hawk Moth's largest attacks yet and he still hasn't recovered. That had been years ago. "I'm still modeling, but I've found that making movies is my passion. Speaking of..."

Adrien pulled out his video camera and started filming. "How does it feel to be home after three years abroad?"

Marinette laughed and tried to shove the camera out of her face but to no avail. "It feels...weird. Now put that away, will you, Adrien?"

"Not a chance. I still have so much more to ask you! This could turn into the best documentary yet. Now that you're home, what will your next move be?"

"Honestly? I just want to focus on getting that design internship. I just need to find a model who will wear the dress for me that I've designed."

Adrien perked up at the mention. "As much as I would love to model it for you, I must decline, Marinette. I'm not sure I'd be curvy enough to wear a dress."

Again, Marinette burst into laughter as she playfully shoved his shoulder. "Not sure it would look the most flattering on you anyway."

He grinned as he zoomed in on her face just a bit more. "I think I know someone who could model it for you. She's been a bit overbooked as of late... But I'm sure if I ask nicely, she'll be ecstatic about wearing the dress for your internship."

"Great! Who is it?"

"My girlfriend, Alyssa."

It was instantaneous. As soon as he said those words, the beautiful light in her eyes disappeared as if someone turned off a lightswitch. Just that alone caused his heart to sink with despair. He said the wrong thing, but he wasn't so sure what was so wrong about it.

"You know what?" Marinette finally said. "I think I'll be just fine. I'd like the challenge of finding someone on my own. It could expand my network doing it that way."

Adrien turned off his camera and nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure. That's fine." He was just about to open his mouth to say something else, but at that moment, they rounded the corner and a group of people jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!"

"Alya!" Marinette shrieked as she dropped her things and flew into her best friend's arms, and soon enough, there weren't enough hugs to go around. Even Adrien got a hug from Marinette's mom at least twice and he didn't even know why.

"I brought some éclairs!" Marinette's dad said and everyone dove for the box of home-made delicious pastries. Adrien had to admit... No one could bake like Mr. Dupain-Cheng could. Well, except Marinette. Her pastries were to die for...

Again, he shook the thought out of his head. He was just happy to see her, that's all.

"The four of us need to get together again, just like old times," Nino said as he reached out for Alya's hand, and only then did Marinette catch sight of the large sparkling ring on Alya's finger. Marinette shrieked again and hugged the two of them to the point where Adrien thought she might break them.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You're engaged! When? How? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Adrien grinned as he watched Marinette ogle over Alya's ring. Alya and Nino had been dating on and off since high school and they finally made it official. The best part was that Adrien got to hide in the bushes and take all the pictures of the actual engagement part. Well, admittedly, he actually found a better vantage point in the tree but Nino didn't have to know that. Especially because he got there in the nick of time but he still hadn't transformed back into Adrien when it happened. That had been one nearly very sticky situation.

"So what do you say?" Adrien asked after Marinette finally stopped squealing. "The four of us hanging out?"

"I, uh, we, uh..." Marinette seemed to be at a sudden loss for words so Adrien simply put an arm around her and squeezed her shoulders.

"Hanging out it is. Friday? The usual place?"

Marinette nodded and Adrien smiled while simultaneously trying to bat away Plagg, his kwami, whose whiskers tickled his ear. "Adriennnn!" Plagg whined quietly so only he could hear. "I'm hungry. I need some Camembert stat."

"Why are you always so needy?" Adrien nearly hissed back at him but then he had to shake himself out of it. He received his Miraculous years ago and now the Chat Noir portion of him was actually a part of him. He had become an expert at hiding that half of himself, but there were times when the cat took over.

Plagg continued tickling his ear with his whiskers until Adrien finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Sorry, guys! I'll have to catch up later. I have...urgent matters to attend to."

"Oh, okay," Marinette said but then she smiled. "I'll see you on Friday then."

Adrien practically hurried out of there and stepped into the comforting embrace of night. When no one was looking, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a piece of cheese for his feline kwami.

"Plagg, you're going to make me go broke," Adrien sighed as he furiously scratched his ear to make the tickle go away. "I'm out on my own now, you know."

"But it tastes so good!" Plagg cried as he munched on piece of cheese after piece of cheese. "And stop being such a downer. Ladybug is gone and she ain't coming back!"

With a scowl, Adrien swatted at Plagg but he managed to dodge just out of reach. "It's been a few years, so I know. But you don't have to rub it in my face. I just thought..." He sighed as he slumped down against the brick wall behind him. "I just thought we had something special. I've never met another girl like her. I don't understand why she had to leave."

The kwami continued to munch on his cheese, completely ignoring Adrien's brokenhearted spiel as he always did. Plagg was...more or less indifferent to everything unless it concerned cheese or sun basking. He couldn't help but wonder what Ladybug's kwami was like...

"Plagg, claws out!"

"But I haven't finished my cheese!"

Adrien gave him a look and Plagg reluctantly complied. Soon enough, Adrien was outfitted as Cat Noir and he leaped as high as he could from building to building until he made it to the very last place he had seen Ladybug—a rooftop that had a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower. Admittedly, he came here often. Somehow, it made him feel closer to Ladybug.

Making himself comfortable on the rooftop, Adrien sighed as he gazed at the illuminated tower. Plagg was right. He really needed to let go. He really needed to let Ladybug go.