Adrien was twenty years old when he first became Chat Noir and met Ladybug. Four years later, amidst the toughest time of his college career, he meets Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
A College/Reverse Crush AU exploring what would happen if Marinette was fo...
He looked forward to their meetings as much as the freedom of his patrols with Ladybug. That particular realisation had rocked him to his core.
It hadn't taken him long to realise he was in love. Plagg, in fact, was the one to point it out. He'd made many a joke about Marinette being his girlfriend and, after the millionth-time Adrien had corrected him, something finally clicked in Adrien's brain.
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No, she wasn't his girlfriend. But he wanted her to be.
Which led him to his current dilemma- how to get through the day without accidentally confessing and ruining the best thing that had happened to him since Hawkmoth's defeat two years previous.
But still, Adrien thought as he leaned back in his chair and stared at the panelled ceiling, he wanted to do something. He had a catch-up session with his supervisor and then he had to do a little PR for the Valentine's photoshoot he'd modelled for. Aside from the seemingly endless pile of reading to do, he also had to come up with a plan for doing something for Valentine's day without it looking like it was something romantic.
Why am I such a scaredy-cat?
Sitting up, he took a sip of his gifted coffee through gritted teeth, attempting to come up with a solution.
A gift would be too obvious, a friendly greeting not enough, running across the campus rom-com style to sweep her off her feet would be amazing- but it would probably earn him a punch. He'd seen Marinette's anger and never, ever wanted to be on the receiving end of it, even if her anger was usually on the behalf of someone else's misfortune (one of the reasons he loved her to be honest).
In any case, he wasn't the type to kiss a girl unless he was absolutely sure they wanted it too- and Marinette didn't. They were just friends and she treated him as such.
He tried to ignore the painful tug on his heart at the thought.
God! Why was this so hard? All he wanted to do was something nice for the girl he loved on Valentine's day! He wanted her to know she was loved. He wanted her to smile. He wanted her to be happy regardless of whether or not it was with him or-
Wait.
Adrien lurched forwards, almost spilling his coffee. He scarcely noticed, as an idea was forming in his mind...
Without stopping to question whether or not this was a wise decision, Adrien pulled out his phone, quickly typing out a text to Nino.
Adrien: Hey bro, hope you and Alya have a good Valentine's! On a totally unrelated note, do you know Marinette's address?
***
The blanket wrapped around Marinette's shoulders didn't do much to shield her from the bitter air which surrounded her balcony, but she didn't mind too much.
Nursing a mug of chamomile tea in her hands, she huffed, reclining in her chair, and stared at the dark sky above. Her breath fogged the air and a melancholy cloud consumed her heart. She did her best to guard against the rain which threatened to fall there, but no umbrella could shield her from this particular type of downpour.
