The Rose That Brought Us Together - Miraculous Ladybug Reveal

Chapter 3

Marinette ran around her room, doing her best to clean up before Adrien could arrive at her house.

She took down creepy stalker-ish pictures of him left and right, at the same time taking care not to tear them in any way.

She would need them for later.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Marinette, your friend is here!" Marinette's mother called from downstairs.

Marinette could hear the door opening, then her parents exchanging greetings with Adrien.

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. Thank you, Mr. Dupain-Cheng."

Her parents both exclaimed at the same time, "You can call me Sabine!" "You can call me Tom!".

Marinette giggled a little. "Tikki, hide!" she said, then ran downstairs to greet Adrien.

She saw that her parents had offered him croissants and taken his coat.

"H-hi, Adrien." Marinette stuttered.

"Hi, Marinette." He said back, smiling slightly.

We all stood there awkwardly for a moment until Marinette's mother spoke up. "Well, Marinette, why don't you take him upstairs?" She asked, bringing Marinette back to reality.

"Oh yeah. Come with me, Adrien." Marinette led him up the stairs and into her room.

It seemed that she had successfully taken down every picture.

She relaxed a little. Then she noticed that she had completely forgotten about the rose that Chat Noir gave her.

It sat innocently in its vase next to her computer, its curiously paw-print shaped mark showing.

Marinette panicked internally.

What if he notices it and thinks I already like someone? What if he decides that he can't love me because of it? Oh no, you screwed up really bad this time, Marinette!

She noticed that Adrien was looking at the rose with a curious expression on his face.

He seemed to decide that it wasn't important at the moment and instead brought his attention to Marinette.

"So, should we get started?" He asked.

"Um, sure, yeah." She stuttered.

They walked over to her couch and sat next to each other, working long and hard.

Marinette was busy typing on her tablet, and Adrien was scanning their notes for answers.

They worked for quite a while. At one point, Adrien noticed a heavy and warm feeling slide against him.

He looked down to find that Marinette had fallen asleep mid-note searching.

It was a pleasant feeling, and it made him feel happy like he'd never been before- except for when he was with Ladybug on patrol.

It had been far too long since Adrien had felt this feeling.

Warmth, happiness, the comfort of someone being there for him...

He heard a quiet rumbling noise, which slowly grew louder and louder.

When he searched for the source, he found that it was coming from...

Him?

He was purring.

Marinette stirred against his side, sensing his surprise and probably feeling the vibration.

"Adrien, what..." She started. Upon noticing her position next to him, she stood up quickly.

"Oh! Would you look at the time! I'm really sorry Marinette, but I have to get going." Adrien stood up too, flustered. Hopefully, she didn't hear that...

"T-that's okay, Adrien, I was just about to say the same thing... I mean! I was just about to say that I should go bakery my parents in the help! I mean- um- I should go help my parents in the bakery! Yeah..."

Yep, she didn't notice anything. That's classic Marinette.

"Ok. Sorry we didn't finish the project. Maybe Ms. Mendeleiev will give us an extra day. She's a pretty understanding person."

Adrien got up, gathered his things, and headed for the door.

As he walked quickly down the stairs, Tom and Sabine started asking where he was going.

"It just got a little late, and I promised my father that I'd be home a while ago."

Tom went and found Adrien's coat, and Sabine once again offered him a croissant.

Adrien thanked both of them, and this time accepted Sabine's offer.

He hoped it would get his mind off of what had just happened.

Gorilla was waiting outside in the limo.

Adrien had lied to Marinette- he wasn't expected back at home for another 15 minutes, and the limo arrived early, just in case.

Adrien climbed in the back seat, grateful for the solitude it offered, and nibbled on his croissant, contemplating what had just happened.

Later that night, Chat Noir was the first to get to their meeting spot- the Eiffel Tower. It was almost customary for them to meet there before their nightly patrols.

As he waited, he continued to worry about what had happened at Marinette's house.

The rose had looked just like the one that he had given Ladybug... but it could have just been a shadow.

And then he had gone and purred- purred- in front of Marinette! Since when could he do that?!

Of course, maybe she hadn't heard anything-

"Hey there, Kitty!" Ladybug swung up to the Eiffel Tower, taking a seat next to Chat Noir.

"Good evening, M'Lady," he said, attempting to kiss her hand, but she pulled it away from his grasp.

"We'd better start, huh?"

"Anything for you, Bugaboo." He crooned.

She groaned, but he caught a hint of a smile as she swung away.

They didn't find anything that night, thankfully, and when they returned to the Eiffel Tower, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways for the night.

"Goodnight M'Lady."

"Goodnight Kitty."

Chat Noir made his way back to the silent house, mind still reeling.

Marinette couldn't have noticed.

And his eyes were just playing tricks on him.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in no way, ever, in her life, Ladybug.

She couldn't be...

Right?

He decided to go check on Marinette, just in case he was wrong.

When he got there, Chat Noir tapped on her window, hoping that she would come and say hello to him, confirming that he was wrong.

But she wasn't there.

No one answered.

Ladybug decided to stay out a little later past patrol that night to clear her head.

She knew that she couldn't possibly have heard correctly.

People can't purr, only cats do that.

And even if they could, the only person who might do it would be...

Chat Noir.

But Adrien couldn't be Chat Noir! He was too nice and kind, and perfect!

And he would never, ever, in his life, make a single cat pun.

Right?

Ladybug headed back home with a new weight on her shoulders.