Let's play a game! Can you spot how many references to the first book I made? Let's find out!
"Marinette, where are you taking me?" Adrien heard Plagg snickering from within Marinette's purse, where he was hiding along with Tikki. The two kwamis had plenty of their respective snacks with them as well. Adrien could feel Marinette's cold hands on his arm as she pulled him to whatever destination it was that she had in mind.
"You know, it definitely takes the surprise out of something if I tell you, right? Just follow me." Marinette giggled as she continued to tug him along after her. The pair hadn't been walking for long, just having left the bakery about five minutes ago, but Adrien's curiosity got the better of him. He followed behind her, smirking as a thought crossed his mind.
"You know that I'd follow you to the ends of the Earth, bugaboo." He completed the line with a wink that was hidden behind the pink scarf Marinette had placed over his eyes. While she couldn't see it, he knew he had gotten the reaction that he wanted when he her hand clench his just a bit tighter. He could practically feel the heat of her blush ooze off of her and he smirked. Even after these few weeks of knowing that Adrien was Chat Noir, she still wasn't used to Adrien being flirty to her and sending her pick up lines. The other day he had said one to her, and he truly thought he had broken her ("Can you take me to the vet? Cause you just took my breath away." "You know we're already dating, right? You don't have to use pick up lines anymore." "Yeah, but they still make you look like the prettiest cherry I've ever seen." The blush wouldn't disappear for a long time).
He loved knowing that he had this effect on her. But it would be unfair for him to say that she didn't do the same to him. Simple things she does makes his heart beat wildly, as if they had only started dating. In reality, it had been almost 4 months since they began their relationship, and Adrien truly hoped that this feeling he had would never go away. In his heart, he knew that Marinette would always do something that made him feel like an excited, lovesick fool again. He wasn't too worried on his end. As for her, Adrien was fairly certain that she would be happy with him, as she hasn't said or done anything that showed otherwise.
After a short while, Marinette finally pulled him to a stop.
"Surprise!"
"Alya, you're supposed to wait for her to take the blindfold off of him..." Nino. That was definitely Nino; Adrien has heard that voice of disappointment one too many times to not be able to recognize it.
"Then how would it be a surprise? He wouldn't be scared."
"You don't scare them, you shock them- oh whatever." Adrien's lips curled into a smirk as he heard his friends playfully argue with one another. Marinette carefully untied the scarf hanging over his eyes, allowing him to see Alya and Nino bickering with one another.
The group of friends were inside of Alya's home, bunched up inside the living room of the apartment. Scattered across the room were a few loosely hung black and green streamers, sunken black balloons with a bright green paw hanging from the ceiling, clearly lacking helium. On the coffee table by her couch were a platter of croissants and cupcakes, and then a few healthier options for Adrien. Said boy smiled as he thought about how kind that was, Alya knowing that he would feel guilty if he ate too much of the sugary desserts that didn't belong in his very strict diet.
Next to the table sat three wrapped presents and one brightly colored gift bag. The gift bag was a whole clash of colors that would have made his father gone mad, and by the looks of it, Marinette wasn't holding out too well either; glancing over at the present every few minutes and twitching an eye. The sky blue plastic had orange polka dots covering it, lavender tissue paper hiding the contents within the bag. Next to the bag sat a square box, wrapped in white paper with silver "Bon Anniversaire!" printed repeatedly on it in an almost impossible to read cursive. A red glittery bow sat on the upper right corner of the gift, giving it a little burst of color. The larger gift next to it was what Adrien predicted was Nino's present, being badly wrapped with a blue wrapping paper with striped candles covering it. And the final present was the most neatly wrapped, a tame olive green with a black flower-looking ribbon on top of the rectangular box.
Nino hooked an arm around Adrien's neck, pulling him down until their head were close as he smiled at the blond birthday boy. His hazel eyes glittered in excitement as he gave Adrien his one-armed hug before pulling back so that Alya could get hers in as well.
"Don't think that we forgot your birthday, cat boy!" Alya called as she slumped herself on the sofa, taking one of the croissants off the plate. She took a bite out of the buttery, flaked crust before continuing. "I even got the 'rents and sisters out of the apartment for the day, just for you." She threw in a wink, making Adrien laugh as he moved to join her on the couch. Nino and Marinette came to join them, Nino sitting next to Alya and Marinette sitting next to Adrien.
"Thank you guys, really. You didn't have to do this."
"A prince should be spoiled every day, but on his birthday, he should be spoiled even more. Especially since he's you, Adrien." Adrien watched Marinette say the familiar quote, jaw dropped as she repeated it nearly word for word with a sly smirk gracing her pale pink lips. Nino let out a low whistle.
"Damn, Marinette. That was smooth."
"Yeah," Adrien agreed, a grin growing on his face. "Almost as if she had taken the words right out of my mouth." Marinette giggled next to him as Nino handing him the first gift, the one he had assumed was from Nino.
"Here's my gift for you, dude. Happy birthday, man."
Tearing off the wrapping paper (Adrien really just had to tug before the paper gave way to the cardboard box and fell off) Adrien pulled the heavily-taped down cardboard flap, nearly elbowing Alya in the chin with the amount of force he had to use. He murmured a quick apology before taking out the hidden gifts from within the box.
Nino had gotten him two things: A CD, and a new pair of headphones that suspiciously looked identical to Nino's own, except for in a glaringly orange color. Looking closely at the silver CD, the words "My man Adrien's remix" written in Nino's sloppy handwriting with a black sharpie.
"You can download the songs on your phone late, dude. I'll show you how." Adrien stammered out a thank you, having a hard time with the wide grin that had consumed his faced. Nino threw him a wink, pointing at the red headphones that rested around his neck. "We'll match now, bro."
Marinette shook her head in a joking despair, Alya grabbing the gift bag and the present with the white and silver wrapping paper. She nearly tossed the obscenely colored bag at Adrien, a giddy glint in her caramel eyes as she leaned back into Nino's shoulder. "Open that one first." She commanded. Nino adjusted his arm so that it rested on top of the couch, allowing Alya to curve into his side.
The wide grin that Adrien had been sporting dropped the instant he removed the lavender tissue paper. Sitting inside the bag was a black headband that had a pair of cat ears placed on top of it. Adrien's shoulders sagged as he pulled the cat-themed headband out of the bag, a look of resentment on his face as he looked at Alya.
"Now you can be Chat Noir without the mask!"
The journalist was already laughing, her phone out taking several pictures of Adrien. Plagg came swinging out of Marinette's purse to see the gift.
Nino flinched a bit as he saw the kwami, but quickly relaxed again as Alya told Plagg what she had gotten Adrien. A few days after Marinette told Adrien that she was pretty sure that Alya knew they were Chat Noir and Ladybug, the duo had decided to come clean and admit it to their friend. Not wanting to neglect Nino, since he had helped them both so much, they included him the day they told their secrets. They had met Tikki and Plagg, and while Alya is more adjusted (thank you Trixx) Nino still needed a little more time before he could fully accept that tiny gods who loved Camembert and cookies were what gave Ladybug and Chat Noir their powers.
Tikki followed behind Plagg quickly, nestling next to Marinette as Alya placed the next present on Adrien's lap.
"Don't worry, cat boy, I got you something else too."
It ended up being snippet about Chat Noir, about how great of a superhero he was and everything else that made him amazing. At the end of the paper was Alya's name, along with a date, the date was a week ahead of the current day.
"Alya..."
"Not one single word in there is a lie, Adrien. You are too good for Paris, and everyone needs to know that too. Chat Noir should not be overlooked anymore, not after this piece gets published in Le Parisien next week."
"Oh my god, Alya! You're being published in Le Parisien? That's amazing!" Marinette exclaimed, grabbing his arm tightly as she leaned over to hug Alya with one arm, and Adrien was filled with pride for his friend. With the end of the school year coming up, it's good that Alya is getting her name out there, but to be published in a popular newspaper such as Le Parisien? That was better than any journalist could get, especially at Alya's age.
"This is amazing, Alya! Thank you, this really means a lot to me." Alya's eyes softened into a melting caramel as she smiled one of her rare sweet smiles, no hint of trickery or slyness glinting from it. This was Alya at her most sincere. Being the touchy person he was, Adrien pulled Alya into a hug in his way to show his gratitude to one of his closest friends.
Adrien set the paper down carefully next to the headphones Nino got him and the haphazardly thrown cat headband that had been Alya's other gift. He made sure that the paper didn't get a single crease (he was going to frame it later and set it next to the Jagged Stone CD with Marinette's signature) as he grabbed the final present. Marinette's.
He pulled the flower-like bow off the present with a preciseness, knowing that Marinette liked to keep the bows for future presents and gifts, before tearing into the present with a hidden ferocity. Yanking the lid off the box, inside laid a neatly folded black cloth, which turned out to be a hoodie. That had a long tail at the back and a pair of cat ears on the hood.
Adrien glared at Marinette who was tearing up from holding back her laughter.
"I'm sorry, I already gave you my meaningful gift," Marinette said, hiccuping her way through the sentence with bubbly giggles. "Alya and I decided to work together on our presents."
Oh Lord, his girlfriend was more of a dork than he was.
(That was not true.)
~~~~~
Even though the party had lasted long into the night, and well into the morning, Adrien felt great when he went to school the next morning. The same, however, could not be said of Marinette and Nino. The two looked like the walking dead, both slumped over with the heads planted firmly in the arms, Alya sitting straight up with a cup of coffee in her hands. Adrien grinned as she teasingly offered Marinette a sip of her coffee, which Marinette twisted her nose in disgust before burying her head further in her arms with a loud groan.
"Kill me," Nino whined, tilting his red cap until it covered his eyes, which had dark purple bags under them, matching Marinette's.
"My pleasure," Alya purred, flicking his cap teasingly as she sent him a wink that Adrien thinks was supposed to be flirtatious. Nino just glared at his girlfriend before grumbling and slumping further into his seat, not rested enough to humor her.
Marinette looked up as Adrien slid a water bottle across her desk, a gentle smile formed on his lips as his bright green eyes softened for her.
"I got you this. I know you don't like coffee, so I heard that green tea can help wake you up." Marinette smiled at him, taking his hand that was wrapped around the bottle and bringing it up for a lazy kiss across his tanned fingers. She released his hand, so she could drink the green tea that he had set before her.
"Thanks, chaton."
Adrien nodded before he sat down in his seat, pulling out his utensils as Madame Bustier walked in the classroom with a wide smile on her face. Behind her was a new student, a boy with shaggy brunette hair and a sharp jaw that made him look more intimidating than he probably was. But what really got Adrien were his eyes.
They were a dark brown, the same color as dark chocolate, but they didn't hold the same bitterness and anger that Adrien had remembered. They didn't hold the numbness that used to send shivers down Adrien's spine, that used to haunt his nightmares; were his nightmares.
In front of him stood Jace Olsen.
He didn't have to turn around to know that Marinette had gone tense as well, the duo both feeling a familiar unsteadiness from the torture they had suffered from him. Jace just gazed over the class uncomfortably, his thumb and pointer finger rubbing together anxiously as he desperately tried to make his face as stoic as he could. He probably could have passed it off, scratch that, he definitely did, but Adrien could see through his facade. Probably because Adrien had worn the same facade many times before.
"Good morning you guys!" Madame greeted enthusiastically. "I'm happy to say that we have a new member joining our lovely group. Meet Jace Olsen, a new student that came from America a few weeks ago." Madame gestured to Jace, looking at the new student with a kind and warm smile. "I'm sure you will enjoy it here."
Jace gave a small salute of a wave before Madame Bustier continued. "Now some of us know how scary it is to start a new school, so are any of you willing to give Mr. Olsen a tour of the school after class is over?"
For a moment, no hands were raised.
Then, one hand shot up in the air.
"Adrien?" Madame and Marinette said simultaneously, Madame in excitement and Marinette in incredulity.
"Yes ma'am, I'd be happy to give him a tour. I know how scary it can be, so I'm sure I can help him. If that's alright with you, Jace?"
Adrien bit his tongue with a bated breath, waiting for his answer. Sandman- Jace. Just Jace- Nodded his head slowly, a small smile growing on his lips. Adrien grinned in return as Jace moved to the back of the room to sit next to Nathanael as Madame Bustier began her lesson.
"Adrien," Marinette tapped on his shoulder, capturing his attention. "Are you sure about this?"
Adrien frowned for a moment, looking back at Nathanael and Jace. His frown disappeared quickly, however, when he saw Jace and Nathanael wearing wide grins as Nath showed the new kid some of his drawings in his notebook, Jace pointing at one in particular. Adrien could just barely get the word "cool" when he nodded to Marinette.
"I am. I think it's time for us to move on from our nightmare." Adrien's eyes practically glowed as he looked at Marinette who smiled at Adrien's willingness to accept Jace.
In a flash, Adrien saw the red string that was wrapped tightly around Marinette's pinkie, attached to his own. It reminded him of the first time he had seen the string, with Marinette on her balcony, looking beautiful as the moon made her shine like the angel she was.
The only difference was that this time, Marinette could see the string too. Her cerulean eyes widened in shock and confusion as she studied the almost transparent red string. A grin crossed Adrien's face.
"We are going to be just fine. Our fates are tied together, after all."
Dude, this is almost 3k words.
I hope you enjoyed this series and the way it ended!
Yes, I am starting a new book called Casual Kisses which will feature all of the big four, but mainly Adrienette and LadyNoir.
Here's the summary:
Casual kisses. It's their thing. It didn't mean anything; really, it was just a way to relieve the tension between them. Adrien could still flirt with Ladybug, and Marinette could start moving on from Adrien. They were helping each other; it was completely harmless.
No harm, no foul, right?
~~~~~
Adrien pressed Marinette against the wall, panting heavily into her ear. He could barely see the outline of her shapely body within the dark supply closet, but he could most definitely feel it.
"Does this mean anything to you? About us?" Adrien whispered hoarsely to her, his voice rough from his want for Marinette. He kept her caged within his arms; to keep this moment between them and them only. He littered her collarbone and bare shoulder with butterfly kisses, lips only making contact with her skin for a brief second before moving to a different spot.
He couldn't feel the internal pain that Marinette felt; rather, he felt her nails rake down his clothed back. Adrien released a low groan, pulling away from her neck and gazing into her cerulean eyes. He looked at her with, was that hope? No, that was Marinette's overactive imagination.
"No." Marinette answered finally, pulling him in until their lips met once more.
I am back! And I need a cover for this new story? Anyone willing?
If so, email me at tgroppe17@gmail.com
Thank you so much and I hope you are all excited about my new story like me!
4 or 5 years I have dedicated my life to this series and I'm honestly sad to see it end. Thank you to all my faithful readers that have stuck with me since the very beginning!
Also, huge thanks to neverlanded for the support she has given me over the years! Even though we both thought we had stolen each other's books at the beginning. Thank you, Arisa! I couldn't have done this without you. #Tayrisa4Lyfe!
I was honestly scared to end this series, probably why I dragged it out so long. I'm terrified that my next books will never be as successful as this series was. But nonetheless I will power through.
I hope to see you guys in my next book, Casual Kisses!
Until the next book, peace!