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“Marinette! we need to talk.”
Alya stepped past the threshold of the bakery’s living room of the bakery's Marinette, her expression a perfect mix of concern and a reporter's focused intensity. So really she looked like she had bitten a lemon. She held a carton of macarons, a peace offering, or just necessary fuel, or a threat to move to another bakery. Curse the free market. and set them down on the coffee table, which had never seen a single coffee in its entire life, instead being used mostly for laundry, with a decisive thud.
Marinette, curled up on her chaise lounge, didn't look up from the sketchpad resting in her lap, though she hadn't drawn a single line in an hour, in 63 minutes and 15 seconds but really who's counting .
“About what?” Her voice was small, dry, and carefully neutral carrying only echoes of despair. Carefully modulated of course.
Alya crossed her arms. “Don’t give me that. About Adrien. About the breakup.”
Marinette finally lifted her head, her blue eyes wide with faux innocence. “There’s nothing to talk about. We broke up. It happens.”
“It doesn’t just happen, Marinette! Not when you two have been practically joined at the hip since the day you officially started dating. Not after all the angst, and the angst and the angst. You broke up, and two days later, you’re just… sketching silence.” Alya sat down next to her, softening her voice. “Talk to me, girl. Did he do something? Was it the schedule? Was it… Her?”
Marinette flinched at the last name. She set the sketchpad aside with a sigh, staring at a stray crumb on the table. “No, it wasn’t Lila. And Adrien didn’t do anything wrong. He was… perfect, actually. Too perfect.”
He really wasn't but lying had become incredibly easy.
“Too perfect? What does that even mean?”
“It means… it means I couldn’t do it anymore, Alya,” Marinette confessed, the neutral facade cracking. Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “The sneaking around, the near misses, the constant lying to the people we care about. Every time we had a moment. A real, honest moment. I felt like I was cheating him out of the full truth. I felt like I was holding back ninety percent of myself just to protect the other ten percent.”
Alya tilted her head, her gaze thoughtful. “You’re talking about Ladybug.”
Marinette nodded, a single tear escaping. She was so good at lying. She hated how good she had gotten.
“It was eating me alive. I love him so much, but I was so scared that if he knew, it would put him in danger, or it would ruin the balance, or I’d mess it up and lose him completely. Or you know, end the quacking world. Normal boy stuff. And when I couldn't share that biggest part of my life with him anymore, it started to feel like the relationship itself wasn't real. So, I took the nuclear option. I told him we should just be friends. It was cleaner.”
She did, and then she wanted to give him a shoulder to cry on, and evidently he wanted to do the same and they literally smacked into each other. Face first. Full frontal. They fell to the ground, conveniently losing the jewels in the process.
What followed was around 90 minutes of incoherent screaming. An hour of her apologizing to him for various… events. Ten minutes of him apologizing, which she cut off by kissing him (kissing Chatrien was somehow better than either of the material used to create him was) because he was perfect and should never apologize for anything and could do no wrong. Then more apologizing, about holding each other to unreasonable standards. And right now he was hidden underneath her blanket.
Alya reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Oh, Marinette. ‘Cleaner’ for who? You look like you haven’t slept at all.”
“ for Paris,” Marinette mumbled, accepting a tissue from her friend. Damn allergies. Also yay more guilt.
“And for him. He deserves a girlfriend who can be honest, who can be completely present. Someone who isn’t constantly running off to fight a giant baby.”
Alya sighed, pulling Marinette into a comforting hug. “Look, I get it. The superhero life is complicated. But you don’t get to sacrifice your own happiness and call it a strategic move, okay? Adrien’s stronger than you think. And he loves you, Marinette, not just the ten percent you let him see. “ She knew that, even before the reveal. “Give it time. Let yourself heal. And when you’re ready, you talk to your partner. “
Marinette must be an incredibly well defined person if her friend could predict her this well. Or she was just really predictable. Or her reactions were entirely justified and normal, but the situations were entirely unprecedented. “The mask is supposed to protect your identity, not your heart.”
Why was Ayla Always so into the idea of Marinette being with Chat? Marinette was also into the idea but it was less weird when she did it.
Marinette managed a tearful smile. “I know, I know. It’s just… it’s a lot more complicated now, being completely honest with someone who gets it. And by more i mean less”
Alya gave her a look of confusion. “Someone who’s, you know, always there.” She let out a soft, melancholic sigh (it was a good sigh, she managed to convince even herself), her gaze drifting. “Chat Noir’s just… been a great distraction. We've been spending a lot of time together. Even went for crepes last night.”
And for a shower. Which she wanted to be all y’know but she got soap in her eyes and then they wasted so much water laughing. Cuddles were better anyway. At least she knew what she was doing then.
Alya’s eyes went wide, the caring concern instantly replaced by a mixture of shock and the sudden, blazing intensity of a journalist who’s just stumbled onto the scoop of the century. Or a fangirl who's meeting her ship in real life. Or a bestie who's excited at her bestie's new boy. Her hands clamped down on Marinette’s mouth with the grip of a vice.
Marinette tilted her head as Alya screamed unmuffled.
For a moment alya was just as confused as she was. She removed her hand.
“Did you put your hand over the wrong mo-”
“Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Alya hissed, interrupting, leaning in so close her glasses were practically fogging up. “You said ‘Chat Noir.’ You said you went on a date with your superhero partner. Are you telling me that two days after breaking up with Adrien, who is literally the most perfect boy in the world, credit to the design committee or whatever. You are now officially dating Chat Noir?”
Officially no. Since Alya was pretty much the officially source, and Marinette hadn't told her.
Because then she would demand a double date, and because she had strategically forced Marinette to lie, Marinette would feel guilty enough to let herself be demanded.
Marinette’s eyes darted frantically, her face going crimson as she realized what she’d just let slip. “Uh… no! I mean, yes! I mean… it wasn’t official, official! I would have told you! You're my propaganda minister! Press secretary! Girl in the chair! “ She was fumbling “It was just… crepes. And a rooftop patrol that lasted until dawn.” That had happened before, and would happen again. “And then another date for pastries this morning. But we’re keeping it quiet!”
or they had been doing this for so long that the change from Platonic partner I would have a Relationship to Person I am in a Relationship with had been completely fluid. She buried her face in her hands.
“I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone!”
Oh no silly Marinette you're so bad at lying. Suddenly. Why did it still hurt?
Alya launched off the chaise lounge, pacing the living room with frantic energy, a wild grin spreading across her face. “You and Chat Noir! Marinette, this is insane! This is unbelievable! This is the greatest plot twist in the history of plot twists!”
It actually wasn't. It was very in character, but Alya was probably just excited.
Or maybe a good plot twist was also defined by being in character...
She stopped, planting her hands on her hips, her voice becoming deadly serious.
“Forget keeping it quiet. This is huge!!! Nino and I have to meet him. Well we know him but... The real him! " Alyas eyes were shining now. Marinette wanted to cryugh , which of course, was cry and laugh at the same time. For different reasons. Alya was still talking "No, we have to vet him! We have to make sure he’s good enough for our girl." When her parents thought she might be with chat, they had done zero wedding, it was nice to know that Alya was more suspicious about her boyfriends than her parents were. "You two are joining us for a double date, and you are going to make it work. As in, this weekend. No excuses.”
“W-WHat???”
Once again, the curse of perfectly predicting the future came to haunt her.
“I said NO EXCUSES!!!!” Alya said poking her in the chest.
Marinette blinked, before she focused-
She had one last thing to try
“...Won't Nino be mad?” She asked quietly.
Alya smirked “probably, but your ex told him this morning about what happened, and said that he shouldn't be mad at you.”
Noooo! Curse you Adrien and your attempts at avoiding conflict, and your… communication skills! What a fool you are!
Marinette huffed. “Fine. I won't be interrogated, you won't try to learn his civilian identity”
“Oh girl, I don't have to try.”
Marinette glared. “YOU. WILL. NOT.”
Alya rolled her eyes. “I won't! “
Marinette didn't let up her glare.
“See you in three hours! I will text you the location!” Alya said, leaving.
Fuuuuuck.
Marinette sprinted to the Bakery's living room’s Marinette’s Trapdoor and locked it.
Adrien threw off the blanket.
“So we're creating a civilian identity for me?”
She nodded.
“I could tell that was a pretext glare. Even without looking “ he said.
He knew her so well! Oh he was so amazing, and such pretty eyes… and lips…
“Wait! “ She shook her head, pushing him away “we can't waste time being in love! We need to go on a date! “
Adrien nodded, determined.
“Yes. It will be like reverse Kuro Neko.”
Marinette frowned.
“... You know, making another identity for myself? Not the whole… Abandonment Despair thing…” he continued.
“Oh! Yes! Play into preconceptions and stereotypes about yourself… Chat Yourself… whatever.” She said, nodding, determined.
“Theres Stereotypes about Chat? “ Adrien asked, confused.
“HE WEARS LEATHER CAT EARS OBVIOUSLY! “ She yelled.
“wow people sure are biased these days…” Adrien muttered.
“So all of that stuff should be there… being a womanizer and such”
“Marinette, I literally only flirted with you. “ He said, dryly.
“A-HA! Incorrect you also did with Ladybug! Wait…” She trailed off.
“What should my name even be?”
“Chad!”
He huffed "Aren't you supposed to be the creative one?”
She put out her tongue.
Things were good.
“No wait we still haven't gotten the identity down”