No one questions the tattoos, or where they come from. Everyone gets told that the person with the matching tattoo is your soulmate, the person you'll love the most in the world. The stories are all similar, with stories of parents and grandparents' meeting because of their tattoos.
Everyone has a tattoo, either a lock or a key, decorated in a way unique to you and your soulmate. Only one lock and one key match, no others.
When you are born, the tattoo is plain, just a key or a lock, because you are too young to worry about soulmates. When you turn ten, your tattoo comes to life, patterns blooming across your skin. Then you can find your soulmate.
Your tattoo warms, buzzing electricity fills your veins and you know the matching tattoo is close. You feel drawn to them, then you look up and lock eyes with them.
Marinette looked down at the key tattooed onto her wrist, its familiar red and black spots dotting her skin. It was where she got the nickname 'Ladybug' from. Above the red and black lay a needle and thread, outlined in green, and small cat paw prints trailing towards her palm.
"Still nothing," Alya asked from beside her, noticing the look in Marinette's eyes. Alya had met Nino as soon as she had turned ten, and they had recently started dating, while Marinette hadn't even met her soulmate. Alya felt slightly sorry for her, but she knew Marinette was trying to stay positive.
"Hello everyone, today we have a new student! He is the son of fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. Would you like to say anything, Adrien?" Mr Damocles stepped aside, allowing the blond boy standing to his right to step forward.
"Hi, I'm Adrien, I guess there isn't too much to say about me, other than I'm Gabriel Agreste's son," Adrien said, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck.
Marinette felt her tattoo start to warm, and her eyes widened. For the first time ever, her tattoo was reacting to someone!
"Adri-kins," a loud, annoying, familiar vice squealed. Chloe Bourgeois. She launched herself at Adrien, wrapping her arms around his neck. Marinette felt a stab of jealousy, what was Chloe doing?
"Chloe... it's nice to see you?"
"Of course, it is, everyone loves me," Chloe seemed oblivious to the question in Adrien's tone, continuing with her attempts to kiss the boy.
"Chloe, leave him alone. Back to your desks. Adrien, you sit next to Nino in the front row," Ms Bustier entered the classroom, instantly noticing what was happening at the front of the room.
Chloe scowled, not happy with being sent back to her desk, "Ms Bustier, can Adrien sit with me?"
"No, Chloe, you sit with Sabrina and Adrien will sit with Nino. Please return to your seat."
Chloe huffed, stomping back over to her seat and slumping down, sticking her bottom lip out as she stared at Adrien, who was walking to his new seat.
"So, you're friends with Chloe, huh?" Nino turned to look at Adrien, who was offering a friendly smile and a wave. His wrist was facing Marinette, allowing her to catch a glimpse of his tattoo, which looked similar to her own, maybe even the exact same, but a lock rather than a key.
"Alya, I think Adrien has the matching tattoo to mine!" Marinette excitedly danced in her seat, happy to have finally found her soulmate. Even though it had only been a glimpse, she was nearly certain Adrien was her soulmate.
Chloe turned, having overhead Marinette and Alya's conversation, disgust clear on her face, "As if, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, fate would never pair you with MY Adri-kins. You're just not good enough for him."
Marinette felt her face turn a bright red as people turned to look between Marinette and Chloe, one of the girls still having a sinister grin on her face.
"Can I see your tattoo, Marinette?" Adrien turned in his seat, looking at Marinette. Chloe gaped at him, wondering why on earth he would pick Marinette over her, his best friend!
Marinette nodded nervously, not moving otherwise until Alya grabbed her arm and showed the tattoo on her wrist to Adrien. Adrien lifted his am up to rest it next to Marinette's, comparing their tattoos. Marinette was right, they matched perfectly, one key and one lock.
Chloe screeched from her chair, throwing herself out of it and in Adrien's direction, wrapping her hands around his upper arm and dragging him towards the door. For someone who only ordered people to do everything for her, she was ridiculously strong. Adrien struggled, but Chloe was dragging him too fast and had pulled him off his feet. He couldn't find his footing. He tried to struggle, but to everyone else it looked like he wasn't even trying, like he didn't even care that he was being dragged away from his soulmate.
Chloe snapped her fingers in Sabrina's direction. Sabrina instantly leapt out of her chair and grabbed her bag and Chloe's, as well as Adrien's as she walked past, ignoring Nino, who tried to grab the bag back from her. She scurried out the door, following Chloe out.
Adrien threw one final glance at Marinette, regretting that he didn't even have a way to contact her. Before he could call out to her, he was in the hallway and Sabrina was slamming the door shut.
Chloe looked at her friend and said, "My chauffeur is outside. Your father will be able to talk some sense into you."
Inside the classroom, Marinette's eyes filled with tears and she folded her arms in front of her on the table, letting her head fall onto them as she sobbed, her shoulders shaking. Alya hugged her, but she knew there was really nothing she could say to make this any better. As far as she knew, there were no words that would make this any better.
Fate was cruel, but Chloe Bourgeois was crueller.
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Adrien had locked himself in his room, falling into his bed face first and not moving. After he had been dragged home he had immediately disappeared from everyone's sight, wanting to be left alone and away from any questions. He just wanted to go back to school and talk to Marinette.
"Your father would like to speak to you in his office, Adrien." Nathalie turned away and walked down the hallway, hating to be the bringer of bad news, especially after the morning Adrien had suffered through. She already knew that he had met his soulmate and that Chloe Bourgeois had ripped them apart from the way Chloe had been complaining when she dragged Adrien through the door earlier this morning.
"Okay," Adrien mumbled, not wanting to leave his bed, or even his room. He was more than content staying exactly where he was and moping for the rest of his life. No interaction with anyone ever again. Unless, of course, Marinette found a way to talk to him, but that was unlikely. His father would probably put him on house arrest and stop him talking to Marinette.
Pulling himself together long enough to climb out of his bed, Adrien shuffled out of his room and towards his father's office. He knocked twice, waiting for his father's cold voice to tell him to enter.
He didn't have to wait long. "Come in."
Adrien pushed open the door and stepped inside. His father barely looked up from his paperwork as Adrien spoke, "You wanted to speak to me, Father?"
"Yes. Miss Bourgeois informed me that you had found your soulmate. As this may be a detrimental event to the company image, I have decided to pull you from public school-," Gabriel spoke as if he wasn't ruining a huge part of his son's life.
"You can't do that!"
"I am your father, I decide what is best for you! You are grounded for one month, and after that you are to cover your tattoo whenever you are in public. Do I make myself clear?
"Yes, Father."
"Good. You are dismissed." Gabriel hadn't looked up from his papers once in the entire time Adrien had been in the room. When the door slammed, he looked up, making sure he was truly gone before he called Andre.
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Adrien spent the next month slinking around the house, making his plans for escape. He checked every room, window and door, only to be stopped by Nathalie or spotting a camera that was watching his every move. The only place without cameras was his room, but it was on the second floor of the house, so it wasn't a viable option. He'd without a doubt get injured or worse trying to jump to the ground.
His phone buzzed from his desk, a reminder that he had a photoshoot in under an hour and had to leave now. Sighing, Adrien grabbed his phone and left the room, walking through the atrium to the limousine waiting outside the house. Everything was silent, the only sound was the quiet hum of the car engine.
Once he arrived at the park, Adrien was ushered around by the countless assistants that worked for his father on photoshoots, being pushed from makeup to a changing room to hair styling. Less than an hour later, Adrien was in the first outfit of the day and ready to be photographed.
Within minutes, the photoshoot had been called to a halt. Adrien hadn't smiled once, not showing any emotion for the camera, even as the photographer got increasingly more irritated, demanding Adrien smile. Nothing worked.
The photoshoot was cancelled, rescheduled for only a week later. Adrien wished it had been cancelled altogether, along with all the other arrangements his father had no doubt made for him. He didn't want to attend any of them.
Without stopping to think, he turned and ran out of the park, heading away from the photoshoot and running in the opposite direction of his house. He was heading straight towards the school.
Adrien barrelled up the stairs and sprinted towards the classroom he was once in, hoping Marinette would be there. He was starting to go crazy.
He flung open the door and looked around frantically, his eyes zeroing in on the empty seat next to Alya. Marinette wasn't there. He was going to be in so much trouble, and for nothing.
"Adri-kins!" Chloe threw herself at Adrien, noticing his tattoo wasn't visible anymore. She was happy, now everyone would believe that Adrien was her soulmate! Marinette Dupain-Cheng wouldn't stand a chance.
"Chloe, let go of me! Where's Marinette?"
"She said she never wants to see you again because you left and didn't even try and call or text her. But now you can be MY soulmate!" Chloe knew it was a lie. She had told Marinette that Adrien hated her for not even trying to stop Chloe, and she believed her. She was already heartbroken at that point, Adrien hadn't tried to contact her at all, and he didn't even stop himself being dragged out by Chloe, so she just assumed the worst.
Chloe sashayed into class one morning, plan ready to go. She had gotten a fake phone after she had told her father hers was too old. Her phone was only a few months old, but for this to work, she needed a new phone.
The night before, Chloe had added the new phone number to her contacts under the name 'Adrien', before using the new phone to text herself the message she had been planning almost all day.
Once it was sent, she read it to herself, "Chloe, please tell Marinette I don't return her feelings, but don't want to hurt her either. She seems like a nice person. Adrien."
Chloe cackled, dropping the new phone into her drawer next to her bed and leaving her old phone out, closing out of the messages and getting ready to go to bed, wanting to get a full night of beauty sleep before she made Marinette stay away from Adrien forever. Just one little faked text message and Marinette would think her own soulmate hated her!
The next morning, Chloe woke up early, a grin on her face. It was nearly time to get ready to go to school, but she checked the message was still on her phone before she got up. The message was still there, malicious and hateful in all its glory.
When she arrived at school, Sabrina was already there waiting, taking her bag from her and carrying it. Chloe had her phone in her hand, guarding it like her prized possession. She walked into the locker room and dropped onto one of the seats, ignoring the fact that the seats were probably disgusting and something she would never sit on otherwise. She had spare time, so she added a few hearts around the fake contact for Adrien and added a profile picture, one of the few they had together, not one of the manufactured fake pictures from the internet.
Five minutes before the bell rang, Chloe walked towards the classroom, Sabrina trailing silently behind her, not questioning why she was redoing her contact for Adrien when he was someone else's soulmate. Especially with all the hearts she was adding.
Marinette wasn't in the classroom, which wasn't unusual, but the bell rang and everyone filed in and she was still missing. Chloe felt herself become more annoyed. She didn't want to have to wait extra days because Marinette thought it was okay to miss school! Chloe groaned to herself. Tomorrow was too long of a wait to tell Marinette to stay away from Adrien. Maybe she would just have to visit a certain bakery...
Chloe barely payed attention all day, waiting for the moment the bell rang and she could head to the bakery. Sabrina had tried to talk to her, but was brushed off almost immediately, ignored, like usual. The bell rang and Chloe sprang out of her seat, grabbing her bag and almost leaping towards the door, not complaining about having to carry her own bag.
Waltzing through the courtyard, Chloe opened the car door without waiting for her chauffeur to do it, dropping her purse on the seat next to her. With a wave of her hand, she ordered the chauffeur to drive. "The Dupain-Cheng Bakery, today, I have some business to take care of." The chauffeur nodded and drove off.
Chloe's limousine parked outside the bakery and Chloe stepped out, adjusting her handbag over her elbow before she walked inside. The bell on the door chimed and the people behind the counter looked up to welcome her. Marinette's mother whispered something to her husband, before smiling like nothing was wrong. "You're in Marinette's class at school, aren't you?"
Chloe had already thought of a way to talk to Marinette, and blurted it out quickly, "Yeah, I came to drop something off from school. Do you mind if I go and see her?"
"Of course, her room is on the top floor." Chloe nodded and brushed past the counter, walking up the stairs to the top floor. She pulled her phone out before she knocked on Marinette's trapdoor, getting the message on her screen ready to show Marinette.
The trapdoor opened to reveal Marinette, her hair down and still wearing her pyjamas. When she saw Chloe she scowled. "What do you want, Chloe?"
Chloe scowled back, before she pushed Marinette back into her room and followed her, shutting the trapdoor behind her. "I have a message from Adrien for you. Here." Chloe shoved her phone in Marinette's face, forcing her to look at it.
"He... he would never say anything like that! What have you done to him?" Marinette shoved Chloe's arm away from her, stumbling back a few steps.
Chloe stepped closer to Marinette, waving the phone in her face. "Get it through your head, Dupain-Cheng. He hates you, but he's just too nice to hurt your feelings! He wants you to stay away from him, what don't you understand about that?! Gabriel finally talked some sense in to him and he asked me to show you this! Do you need more proof?"
Tears welled up in Marinette's eyes. That couldn't be true, could it? But she didn't really know Adrien, and he was friends with Chloe... Just as a single tear rolled down her cheek, Marinette shoved Chloe out of her room. "Get out! Get out! Get out! I hate you! I hate Adrien! GET OUT!"
Chloe left, a small smirk on her face. Marinette wasn't going to go anywhere near Adrien. Chloe was nearly out the door when Sabine stepped in her way. "What did you do to my little girl?"
"I just had to give her a note from her soulmate, Adrien Agreste. Apparently she's never heard of the phrase 'don't shoot the messenger' because she lost it at whatever was in that note. Bye now!"
As she walked out the door, Chloe could have sworn she heard Sabine mutter something along the lines of 'I'm sure it was something in that note,' but she couldn't be sure. Oh well, she had finished what she had set out to do. Now she just had to tell Adrien that Marinette hated him...
"Chloe, shut up. Marinette never said that and you're just trying to get Adrien to yourself," Alya spat from her seat, glaring down at the blonde girl. She knew Marinette thought Adrien hated her because of what Chloe had said, most afternoons when Alya took homework to the bakery, Marinette was either crying or asleep. "He's not even your soulmate. He's Marinette's, and she thinks he hates her because of you."
Adrien was shocked. Chloe had lied to him, right in front of everyone. She had told Marinette that he hated her, and now Marinette was avoiding him. "You lied to me? I thought you cared, but apparently not!"
"Adrien-," Chloe tried to protest, but she was pushed away by Adrien who was walking towards Alya.
"Where does Marinette live?"
"She's in the top floor of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Just say you're visiting her."
Adrien turned and ran out the door, trying to remember where the bakery was. He had driven past it on the way to an event somewhere with his father, but now couldn't remember the directions for the life of him. He stopped just inside the courtyard and searched for the bakery's address online, finding it in minutes. It was close to the school.
Before he walked out into plain sight, Adrien heard a car pull up outside the school. Taking a risk, he peered around the corner. It was the car he had been taken to the park in. They were looking for him, and they had found him in the exact place he had started.
To his horror, the door opened, and Nathalie stepped out of the car, looking around before her eyes landed on Adrien, who still had his head in clear view of the car. She stepped towards him and Adrien stumbled back, nearly falling over in the process.
"Adrien, come here. Your father wants to speak to you when you get home."
"Nathalie, I'm looking for someone. Please, don't make me go back. I don't want to be locked up again. Please help me."
Nathalie felt sorry for Adrien. She knew Gabriel was a horrible father, mostly leaving his son to his own devices, and then he pulled him out of school because he found his soulmate. He saw Adrien as nothing more than a business tool, forcing him to do photoshoots and anything else he says, expecting no complaints and only the best results. "Okay. Go to her house. I'll tell your father your disappeared into the school and we couldn't find you. I'll give you twenty minutes before we must search again. Good luck."
Adrien grinned at Nathalie before hugging her tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Nathalie smiled as she watched Adrien run off down the street, still in the clothes from the photoshoot. She knew Gabriel wouldn't be happy, but she saw Adrien as something similar to her own child, rather than Gabriel's. When she got back into the car, Gorilla gave her a questioning look, similar to the one she had received when she had let him go to school. "Mr Agreste, we found Adrien, but he ran inside the school and lost us. We'll keep searching."
"You better find him, or your job is on the line." The call was cut before Nathalie could reply, but she knew she would be fine losing her job as long as Adrien was happy.
She looked out the window as they passed Adrien, who turned and gave her a wave before he opened the door to the bakery and walked in.
Tom and Sabine both looked up from the register as the door closed, the bell chiming to alert them of a new customer. Sabine instantly recognised him from the magazines as Adrien Agreste. He was the boy Marinette had been crying over for nearly a month. She nudged Tom. "That's the boy Marinette's been crying over."
Almost immediately, Tom's entire demeanour changed. He went from smiling to frowning angrily at Adrien, who seemed slightly frightened now that both of Marinette's parents were glowering at him. Tom closed the register with a thud. "I don't think you should be here."
Adrien gulped, trying to come up with something that wasn't too pathetic, but only managed to meek, "I'm here to talk to Marinette?"
"No, you're going home." Sabine reached for her broom, before stepping in front of the counter and pointing it at him. "You've already done enough to Marinette. She's been crying in her room for almost a month."
"I came to apologise! Chloe dragged me out of the room and then lied to Marinette! I don't hate her, I've been trying to get here for a month! Please, just let me talk to her."
That piqued Sabine's interest. She knew Chloe had said something to Marinette, but she didn't know it was anything like this. She thought it involved Adrien, and her hunch was right, yet here he was, saying that Chloe was lying, and Marinette had been crying for nothing. She knew she shouldn't have let that blonde brat into her shop...
Then she noticed something. Adrien didn't have a tattoo on either wrist. Soulmates always have their tattoos in the exact same place, but Adrien's was nowhere to be seen. "Wait. Where is your tattoo? Marinette has one on her wrist. Show me yours."
Adrien nearly asked what Sabine meant, before he remembered that the makeup artist had covered his tattoo, as per Gabriel's request. "My father made one of the makeup artists cover it... for 'business reasons'. Do you have something I can get rid of the makeup with?"
"If you don't have the tattoo, I'll throw you out of the shop. No one tolerates liars in this house, I'm warning you."
"I would never lie about something like this. I swear." Sabine nodded and walked up the stairs, motioning for Adrien to stay where he was. Adrien nodded and waited for Sabine to return.
Slipping up the stairs, Sabine poked her head into Marinette's room. Marinette was sitting at her desk, sketching. In the time she had stayed away from school, Marinette had put up pictures of Adrien, taken them down, then put them back up again with his face scribbled out. "Marinette. Adrien is here to see you. He said Chloe lied to you."
"I don't believe him, Mama. What if he only came to laugh at me?"
"I have a feeling he didn't. He's in the bakery. Please, just come down for a few minutes. Let him explain. I hate seeing you like this."
Marinette turned to look at her mother. She knew that both of her parents had wanted to intervene, but Marinette hadn't said anything to them, leaving them in the dark. This was her chance to make sure they knew she was alright. "Okay, Mama. But only for a few minutes."
Sabine grinned. She nearly ran to get the makeup remover, racing back down the stairs before Marinette could even leave her room. Sabine threw paper towel and the bottle of makeup remover at Adrien, who hurriedly scrubbed off the makeup, leaving only his lock tattoo. Sabine clapped her hands.
"Why are you here?" Marinette was at the doorway, looking at her mother and at Adrien, who was still holding a bottle of makeup remover.
"Marinette, please listen to me. Chloe lied about everything, I never hated you. I couldn't call you or text you because I never got your number and then I got put under house arrest and my phone got taken and I'm so sorry about everything, just please, give me another chance. I'll make everything up to you. I'll tell Chloe to leave you alone, I'll tell Chloe to stay away from me," Adrien begged, almost leaping on Marinette.
"But the text. She said you hated me."
"What text? I haven't had my phone since I first met you!"
Marinette mulled over his words in her mind. She had been so caught up in the fact Chloe had said Adrien hated her that she didn't think to make sure Chloe was telling the truth. She had let emotions overcome her logical thinking. "One chance."
Adrien felt like he was about to explode from everything he was feeling. Marinette was giving him another chance, he was relieved about that. Chloe had lied about so much and nearly ruined everything with Marinette, he was angry about that. There were a hundred other thoughts running through his head, but they were all he could think about. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise, I will prove to you that Chloe lied about that text. I could never hate you."
Sabine had somehow left the room without either Marinette or Adrien noticing her, and was sitting outside the door, listening to make sure Adrien didn't say anything to Marinette to make her cry again. Tom had also left earlier, out buying groceries and baking ingredients. He had left just after Adrien had arrived.
"There's still an hour left of school. Why don't I show you that Chloe's lying?" Adrien could only think of one way to prove that he didn't send that text, and it was to get Chloe's phone off her and look at the messages.
"Marinette, you should go. You haven't seen anyone but Alya in the past month," Sabine's voice floated from the next room. Marinette spun around and looked at her mother. "Go and get changed."
Marinette sighed and walked upstairs, returning fifteen minutes later dressed and ready to go, her hair tied back in its usual pigtails. Her bag was thrown over her shoulder and her tattoo was in plain sight. There was no backing out now. "Let's go."
Adrien offered Marinette his arm, trying to act like the perfect gentleman, but Marinette jut laughed slightly and grasped his hand in hers. "Are you sure you can do this, Marinette?"
"I'm sure."
Marinette and Adrien made the quick walk back to the school, arriving in less than ten minutes. Marinette lead Adrien to where their class would be, straight into one of the science labs. Mrs Mendeleiev sat at the front, lecturing the class on the chemical makeup of different elements. She paused when Marinette pushed open the door.
"Adri-kins!" Chloe tried to run over to Adrien, but was stopped when Alya and Nino stepped in front of her.
"We all know what you did, Chloe, and you don't get to ruin this for either of them again." Alya crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, trying to seem as intimidating as possible. It worked. With Nino standing next to her, Alya stared Chloe down until the blonde girl dropped back into her seat in shock, not even threatening to call her father.
"She did lie? And everyone knows about it?" Marinette was shocked. She had stayed away from her friends for over a month and had been hiding out in her room, all because Chloe had lied and she had believed her.
"I told you I would never lie to you."
"I still want to see her phone."
"Okay." Adrien turned away from Marinette and walked over to Chloe. "Hey, Chloe, I got a new phone number and thought you might want it in your phone."
Alya and Nino whipped around and gave him matching looks of 'what are you even doing?', but Adrien only winked at them. Chloe fumbled with her bag, dropping her phone on the ground before she picked it up quickly and threw it at Adrien.
Adrien turned back around and walked to Marinette. He opened Chloe's contacts and found both of the contacts in his name, opening the one assigned to 'Adrien'. Turning the phone around, he showed the screen to Marinette. "This is fake. My phone number ends in seven, not two. And this contact was created a month ago."
Marinette teared up. She couldn't tell if she was happy or sad, but she threw herself at Adrien and hugged him, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry, I should have found a way to talk to you, I should have known it wasn't you sending that message, I shouldn't have believed Chloe. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
"None of this is your fault. I should have called you, and I should have made it clear that I cared about you. I think we just have to start again from now."
"Yeah..."
"Hi, my name is Adrien Agreste and I'm your soulmate."
Marinette giggled at Adrien before replying, "Hi, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I'm your soulmate."
"Are we okay, now?"
"We will be."
"That's good, because you're the only person who has the key to my heart."
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