12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.

Lucky Us

By: Princess Kitty1

Chapter 12

Marinette woke up a little after eight in the morning. She almost panicked, thinking she'd slept through her alarm and forgotten to open the bakery, but then she remembered that it was August. One entire month of government ordained vacation for every bakery in her district. Doubtlessly there were others like her, sleeping in—or at least trying to. Or maybe they'd packed their families into their cars at the crack of dawn and headed for the nearest beach. Not a bad idea.

Marinette rose, stretched, popped open her skylight and climbed out onto the balcony. The morning sun warmed her face, filling her with unbridled joy. She went through an entire yoga routine. Watered her flowers. Watched the pedestrian traffic below until her stomach nagged at her to go indoors for breakfast.

Her phone vibrated with an email from Chat Noir the moment she turned it on.

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: Summer1 hour ago

Good morning, Ladybug! Have you stopped throwing up yet? I hope so, because maintaining such a high level of anxiety while waiting for the results doesn't sound healthy. Your heart can't stop beating before I steal it from you. ;)

Jokes aside, this may be the only free time I have to email you until tonight, so have a beautiful day, my beautiful bug. I'll be with you in spirit.

x.x.x

Disappointment stung Marinette in the heart. What was the point of having all the time in the world to email Chat Noir if he was too busy to talk?

Oh well. She had other things to do. For starters, the apartment needed to be scrubbed from head to toe because her mother would have a heart attack if she found out how much dust Marinette allowed to accumulate on the furniture. Second, she had to go grocery shopping, because now that she had the time to cook she planned on trying out all the recipes she'd been adding to her Pinterest board.

And third...

She opened her text message inbox and cringed.

Alya Cesaire: OH MY GOD ADRIEN KISSED YOU

Alya Cesaire: WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU TEXTING ME FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW

Alya Cesaire: I SWEAR IF YOU'RE ASLEEP I'M GOING TO END YOU

Alya Cesaire: Sorry, I just remembered the design competition. You entered it right? Are you dead?

Alya Cesaire: MARI IF YOU'RE ALIVE PLEASE TEXT ME

Marinette sent a reply to confirm that she was, in fact, still alive, but she said nothing about Adrien. She wasn't trying to be coy, she just didn't know what to tell Alya.

Yes, Adrien had kissed her. A fake kiss. Although, how fake could a kiss be if his lips actually touched her skin? Real kiss, then, but not the kind of kiss Alya thought, and no sentiment conveyed beyond friendship and playfulness. Putting on a show, fake girlfriend. Marinette hid her flushed face behind her hands. How dare he turn her own words against her?

He'd also sent her a text sometime last night, but she'd turned her phone off after emailing Chat Noir so she had no way of knowing what time he'd sent it. She smiled as she typed out a quick thanks and hit send, hoping Adrien wasn't in the middle of something important. Then she left her phone on the kitchen counter, determined to get her chores done without interruption.

It was the first day of her adult summer vacation. Work now, play later.

x.x.x

Adrien entered a dimly lit room with all the seduction and power of a big cat on the prowl. A few feet away, on a large and luxurious bed was Ange Simon, reclining on her elbows with one perfectly tanned leg bent at the knee, allowing her dress to ride up her thigh just enough to tease. Her smoky eyes burned into his. Her lips parted invitingly, beckoning him forward, and he obeyed.

He reached up and undid his tie with practiced ease. His other hand lighted on Ange's smooth thigh and traveled up, up, up as he crouched over her, and her half-lidded eyes became hazy with desire, and her chest heaved from the sheer force of his masculinity—

"Cut!"

Adrien pulled his hand away from Ange's leg so fast that he nearly hit himself in the face with it. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Sorry," he whispered. "It's not you, it's me."

Ange laughed. "Every time I hear that from a guy, he's dumping me for another man."

"You should probably stop dating models, then." Adrien helped her into a proper sitting position as the makeup crew descended on them to fix his tie and touch up Ange's face. They were both exhausted; a six-hour drive to the location followed by a day of filming with a very picky director was enough to make anyone insane. The only thing keeping them from being at each other's throats was the knowledge that none of this was their fault.

The director gestured vaguely. "Let's do it again. Quickly, before we lose the lighting."

Adrien walked back out into the hall and wished for the millionth time that he could email Ladybug. A few encouraging words from her and he'd be able to spend the next five hours filming without complaint. But he'd left his cell phone behind in his room, knowing the temptation would be too great if he had it with him while working. He may not have liked his job, but he wasn't going to half-ass it.

Once again, Adrien strolled through the door in his best imitation of every Hollywood heartthrob he'd ever watched seduce a woman on screen. Ange, ever the professional, lured him in with the finesse of a femme fatale, touched him as if she hadn't truly experienced life before she'd gotten her hands on his body.

Adrien couldn't help but envy his character a little. He lived a beautiful fantasy in an exotic locale, longed for a woman who longed for him, and at the end of the day he got to love that woman. Plain, simple, easy.

When was the last time Adrien had felt truly desired? When was the last time a woman had wanted him, not because he could do something for her, but because she genuinely wanted to be with him? Then again, when had he ever let a woman other than Chloe get to know the real him? Ladybug didn't count because she had no idea who he was.

Well, there was Marinette—

"Cut!"

Adrien snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the director, praying that he hadn't broken character while his mind wandered. But the director wore a pleased smile, and nodded his approval of the scene. "Perfect. Great job today, everyone. We'll resume tomorrow, bright and early."

Adrien let Ange off the bed. She stood and lifted the strap of her dress back onto her shoulder. It was a nice shoulder; Adrien felt a little guilty that he hadn't enjoyed kissing it as much as another man would have.

"You want to get a drink?" Ange asked him.

Adrien already has his sights set on the elevator. "Huh? Oh, sure. I just need to grab my phone…"

He went up to his room, retrieved his cell phone, and hurried down the stairs while he waited for it to turn on. His phone buzzed immediately: several texts, including one from Marinette, social media notifications, and an email from Ladybug.

x.x.x

LadybugRE: Summer8 hours ago

I have stopped throwing up.

And now I'm bored.

Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored…

You get the picture. )-:

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: SummerJust now

My Lady! I hope this message hasn't reached you too late. I hear boredom can be fatal—and you were already weakened by anxiety last night. How do you fare? Shall I drop everything and away to your side?

x.x.x

"Girl, I knew you'd crash and burn eventually, but this is just pathetic."

Marinette glared at Alya and trudged her way back to the sofa, where she'd been for the last few hours, catching up on all the boring daytime television she hadn't missed. "Cut me some slack," she said. "I've gotten so used to being busy that I've forgotten how to relax."

Before she worked full-time at the bakery, she'd a boyfriend to spend time with, and before that she was in university. Marinette couldn't remember the last time she'd been alone with so much free time on her hands. She threw herself on the sofa with a groan. "Alya, am I a boring adult?"

Alya grabbed a decorative pillow and chucked it at her. "How can you even think of saying that? You kissed a model last night." She put her hands on her hips. "Does Adrien Agreste, son of your favorite fashion designer, ring any bells in your mopey little head? How many women in Paris can say that they've kissed Adrien Agreste?"

"From what he told me, at least two," Marinette said.

"You do not get to pretend this isn't a big deal." Alya sat down next to her. "Unless he was a terrible kisser. Is he a terrible kisser?"

Marinette grabbed her yoyo and let it drop, then snatched it back up. Better. Still not as fast as she used to be, but with a little more practice she'd have the hang of it again. "A lady does not kiss and tell," she said to Alya. Not that she had anything to tell. "What about you? You spent the entire night with Nino, using your reporter skills to stalk us."

Alya flipped through the channels on Marinette's television. "Yeah? So?" she muttered, a little too defensively.

Marinette knew that tone of voice. She sat up straighter, a cheeky smile working its way to her face. "So…?"

Alya shoved her. "You were the one on a date, not me!"

"You like him!" Marinette crowed. She threw her arms around Alya's shoulders and squeezed as hard as she could. "You like him, you like him, you like him!"

Alya endured the hug with a roll of her eyes. "Maybe? Yes? I don't know." She sighed. "He's a good-looking guy with an interesting job and a great sense of humor…"

"Exactly! What's not to like?" Marinette gasped. "And he wears glasses. I know you have a thing for guys with glasses."

"I am a sucker for guys with glasses, it's true," Alya said. She fiddled with the remote control. "It's just… I don't know. Is it a good time for this? Do I want to get into the whole dating thing now? Because I'm pretty sure he likes me, so if I drop hints this is going to happen fast and you know my mother will make a huge deal out of it and—"

"Alya," Marinette said, "if you keep waiting around for some perfect time, you're never going to be ready. I mean, look at me. I entered that design competition and do you think I feel ready? No. I'm scared out of my mind. I've barely eaten today because of it. But I made a move." She wrapped an arm around Alya's shoulders. "Look, you don't even have to date him right away. Just do what me and Adrien are doing. Invite him somewhere, spend more time with him, and see if he's someone you want to pursue a relationship with."

"And my mother?"

She grinned. "I won't tell her if you won't."

Alya laid her head on Marinette's shoulder. "Well, he has a show at a nightclub on Wednesday and both of us are invited, so if you were worried about being a boring adult, here comes your chance to shake it off."

"It has been a while since I've gone dancing," Marinette agreed. They sat in peaceful silence for a while before Alya sighed.

"You're dying of excitement, aren't you?"

Marinette nodded several times. "I'm just really happy for you." And as soon as Alya left, she'd share the news with a certain other interested party.

x.x.x

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Attention Special Agent Model Behavior. The Zookeeper's Daughter has caught a fever. Do you copy? Over.

Adrien Agreste: Umm.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Never mind. Alya is officially interested in Nino! :-D

Adrien Agreste: OH. In that case, commence the next phase of the operation. You'll be flying solo this time but I trust your judgment, Special Agent Flour Girl.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: (You forgot to say over.)

Adrien Agreste: Over. Over.

x.x.x

"You texting your girlfriend?"

Adrien blinked at Ange, who sat beside him with a glass of wine in her hand. "Huh? No, I'm not."

"Bullshit." She smirked. "You have that look on your face that all men get when they're talking to their lovers." She shifted closer to him. "Ooh, Marinette? What a cute name! She must be a pretty girl."

Adrien laughed, picked up his phone, and leaned into Ange. "She is a very pretty girl," he said, "but she's not my girlfriend." He held his phone in front of them for a selfie. Ange poked Adrien's cheek and stuck her tongue out.

"Do you like her?" Ange asked as soon as the screen flashed.

Adrien lowered his arm and sent the picture to Marinette, along with a shot he'd gotten of the vineyard earlier that afternoon. Ladybug hadn't emailed him back yet. He was starting to think she really had died of boredom. "Yeah, I like her. She's a good friend."

"But not girlfriend material."

He frowned. "I wouldn't say that."

"You just wouldn't date her yourself."

"Actually, I would date her," Adrien said. If he hadn't been emotionally unavailable, he'd jump at the chance to date a sweet, playful girl like Marinette. She'd come up with a punny codename for him. If that wasn't romantic, then he didn't know what romance was.

Ange squinted at him. "I don't get it. Is she married?"

"Nope."

"Dating someone?"

Adrien took a sip of his wine. "Nope."

"A lesbian?"

"I don't think so."

"So you're friends with a very pretty single woman, who you say you would date, but you're… not dating her?" Ange asked.

Adrien grinned at her. "Look at it this way: you just described yourself, and I'm not dating you either," he said, and laughed when she whacked his arm. "Men and women can have platonic friendships. That's all this is. And as you saw this afternoon, between modeling and meetings I hardly have time to breathe. A romantic relationship would be a disaster."

"That sounds like an excuse," Ange said.

Adrien's phone vibrated on the bar. An email from Ladybug.

x.x.x

LadybugRE: SummerJust now

If I said yes, what would you do?

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: SummerJust now

First, I'd put on a long black riding cloak because I'm Chat Noir, and it's an essential part of the brooding male lead's wardrobe. Then I'd take a dramatic swing onto a waiting stallion and ride all night (even if it only takes half an hour to get to your place; I'll ride around the block until sunrise). You'll either be on your death bed—in which case I'll take your hand and smooth your hair away from your damp forehead, lovingly—or I'll have arrived too late, and your apparition will haunt me for the rest of my miserable days.

x.x.x

LadybugRE: Summer2 minutes ago

You know when you start laughing, but you open your mouth too wide or whatever and you can't control yourself and you laugh so hard that you start sobbing?

Yeah.

That happened.

I missed you today, chaton.

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: SummerJust now

I missed you too, Ladybug.

x.x.x

Adrien managed to stay awake for two whole hours before he his body demanded sleep. It pained him to say good night to Ladybug when he'd hardly gotten to talk to her at all, but he had another early morning the next day, and he felt as enthusiastic about that as he might have felt about getting a cavity drilled.

Unfortunately, right as he was sinking into a deeper slumber, his buzzing phone jolted him awake. He lifted it and peered at the screen.

Father.

Adrien sat up in a hurry. His father wouldn't be calling him at two in the morning if it wasn't an emergency. He pressed the phone to his ear. "Father?"

"Adrien. Sorry to wake you." A sigh. "It's your cat."

Adrien's heart jumped into his throat. Oh God, Plagg. Had he died on him after Adrien specifically told him not to? "What happened?"

"He is outside my bedroom door making these hideous noises," Gabriel said, and a moment later Plagg's mournful meowing became audible.

Adrien collapsed back on the bed, torn between laughing and crying. His cat was alive. He almost sobbed with relief, but then remembered his father was on the line, and he'd be damned if he cried in front of him. "He's just lonely," Adrien said. "Open your door and let him in."

"Let him in—? He's your cat."

"And I'd be more than happy to help him myself, but I'm six hours away."

Gabriel was silent. Then he sighed again. "This will make him stop yowling?"

"Yup." Adrien rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "I mean, yes."

He listened. A moment later, he heard the creak of a door opening, followed by, "Wait, get back here—I didn't say you could—he ran under my bed."

Adrien had to try very, very hard not to laugh. He couldn't keep the shit-eating grin out of his voice, though. "He does that."

"How do I get him out?" Gabriel demanded.

"Well, I used to use one of Mom's old hair dryers, but I don't think his little geezer heart is able to tolerate scares like it used to."

"This is not funny, Adrien."

On the contrary, Adrien was having the time of his life. "Just give him a few. He'll come out on his own when he's hungry," he said.

"I can't wait that long. I have to be up early tomorrow."

"What a coincidence, so do I."

He could practically see his father taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose like he used to when he had a complex problem to solve. Adrien hadn't seen that gesture in a while. He hadn't seen much of his father in general. His mind brought him a memory of the Christmas after his mother's death: Gabriel walking into Adrien's bedroom first thing in the morning with an open box in his arms, and in that box had been Plagg, young and scruffy and full of mischief.

Adrien smiled at the memory. "Put me on speakerphone," he said.

When Gabriel responded, his voice sounded farther away. "Now what?"

"Plagg, come on out of there, buddy. Father needs to sleep." He waited. "Did he get out?"

"No. He's just staring at me."

"Plagg, I'll give you some camembert if you get out from under the bed."

"He made a strange chirping sound."

"Come on, Plagg. You're too old to be acting like a baby. Go back to my room and sleep there."

Seconds passed. Gabriel came back on, his voice close again. "Never mind, let him do what he wants. There's no point in both of us losing sleep. Good night, Adrien."

"Good night, father." Adrien ended the call and put his phone down. He shook his head. Either Gabriel would end up bonding with Plagg, or the next call Adrien got would inform him of his cat's tragic death. He closed his eyes, thinking of Christmas, how happy his father had looked as Adrien scooped Plagg out of the box and held him to his chest.

Oh, what the hell. He'd give him the benefit of the doubt and vote for bonding.

x.x.x

On Tuesday, Marinette made better use of her time. She woke up, ate some fruit, and went for a jog around the nearby park. She took the greatest shower she'd had in months. She painted her fingernails and toenails, then danced around the apartment with foam wedged between her toes, trying to pretend she wasn't lonely without Chat Noir to email. Around noon, she put on one of her favorite summer dresses and went to lunch with Alya. On her way home, she hit up the craft store for fabric. Then she sat down to completely redesign her doll website.

Halfway through her redesign, her phone vibrated.

Adrien Agreste: I'm bored. ):

Marinette closed her eyes and breathed deeply to steady her heartbeat. Adrien was her friend now. Friends texted each other when they were bored all the time. It didn't mean anything special.

Rather than text him back right away, she searched the web for a decent picture of Jagged Stone, opened it with Photoshop, added the text "YOU should be working," then emailed it to herself, saved it on her phone, and sent it to Adrien.

Friends sent each other memes too, right?

x.x.x

Adrien burst out laughing.

And immediately clapped a hand over his mouth.

The director, Ange, and the film crew stared at him. They'd been in the middle of a take, one that had been going quite well until Adrien decided to guffaw all over it. He hid his phone behind his back and sent them a sheepish smile, still snickering.

He knew he should have left the phone upstairs.

x.x.x

Adrien Agreste: OMG did you make that?

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: I whipped it up in two minutes, just for you. Now stop slacking off or I'll send it to you again.

Adrien Agreste: Fiiiiiine.

Marinette held onto her phone, sorely tempted to keep texting Adrien anyway. It was bad enough not having Chat Noir to email. But no, she was an adult. She shouldn't bother Adrien during filming and risk getting him in trouble just because she was lonely.

And she was lonely. As much as she wanted to deny it, as much as she tried to push it to the back of her mind, Chat Noir's emails had become such a huge part of her routine that without them, she felt like something essential was missing from her day. She'd only gotten to talk to him for two hours the night before. It hadn't been nearly enough.

Marinette opened her email app and glared at her response to his good morning email, which had so far gone unanswered. Maybe it was just bad timing: her first week off work coincided with a busy work week for him, and in her vulnerable state his absence affected her deeper than it should.

She put the finishing touches on her website, then wandered into the kitchen with one of her Pinterest recipes. Whatever the case, if she couldn't talk to Chat Noir until evening, then she'd just have to make herself a ridiculously complicated dinner to pass the time.

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: Summer15 minutes ago

Due to a canceled meeting, I have been granted thirty minutes of freedom. I'm going to use it to catch up on all the latest memes (and email you, of course). Hope you're having a purrfect day!

x.x.x

LadybugRE: SummerJust now

Are you still there?

Sorry, I was making dinner.

My day's been going well. How about yours?

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: SummerJust now

Oh, you know, as well as a busy day at work can go. Accidentally botched something earlier, but seeing as I'm not in the habit of making mistakes, I got off with a warning.

Un-fur-tunately, my thirty minutes of freedom are over. I'll talk to you tonight, my Lady. Say a prayer for my sanity, as I'm not sure it's going to last the week. We cats are not accustomed to so much hard work.

x.x.x

Marinette sighed and dropped her phone on the table. Her ridiculously complicated dinner sat in front of her. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. "For Chat Noir's sanity," she murmured. "And Adrien's."

She picked up her fork and dug in, hoping Adrien had found a way to cure his boredom. She ought to make him something when he came back. She'd promised to let him try out her new recipes, and it might be a decent incentive for him to work hard that week. Plus, it would be nice to sit across a table from him again. She already missed their little Tuesday and Thursday routine.

Marinette put down her fork and lowered her head to the table with a frustrated whine. Chat Noir. Adrien. Chat Noir and Adrien. Adrien and Chat Noir. Chat Noir or Adrien. Adrien or Chat Noir.

She had no idea what to make of her feelings. Chat Noir was her best guy friend, and she cared for him deeply, but she didn't know him. She didn't know his name, what he looked like, where he lived, where he worked, what he did with his spare time other than email her and enjoy internet memes. She had no solid foundation on which to develop romantic feelings for him, and yet…

Then there was Adrien. Nice, funny, handsome, and smart Adrien who Marinette had never imagined she'd become friends with. She knew his name, what he looked like, where he lived, where he worked, and some of what he did with his spare time. She also knew what it felt like to hold his hand in a dark movie theater, what his laugh sounded like, the warmth of his lips against her cheek. The only issue there was that he had no romantic feelings for her whatsoever, and Marinette wasn't about to make a fool of herself trying to seduce him. And yet…

She thumped her head against the table. What she needed to do was go dancing tomorrow night and forget about both of them for a while, because until the universe pointed a big flashing sign in either direction, she had no intention of moving.

x.x.x

At the end of the day, Adrien fell onto his bed wishing his stomach was full of pizza instead of the healthy meal he'd had for dinner. He unlocked his phone and grinned at Marinette's motivational poster, which he'd set as his wallpaper to discourage him from getting distracted and interrupting another take.

Chateau Margaux was beautiful, but Adrien wanted to go home. He missed Plagg. He missed Nino. He missed Colette. He missed Chloe. He missed his bed and his city and decent cell phone reception and junk food. Definitely junk food. He'd have killed for one of Marinette's pastries and a half hour to just sit in the bakery and talk to her after such a long day. He missed Marinette. She had this uncanny ability to make him feel better about everything and damn if he didn't need that in his life—

Adrien bolted upright. He frowned at the wall. Frowned at the wardrobe. Frowned at the television. Frowned at his phone.

You have that look on your face that all men get when they're talking to their lovers.

"Nope," Adrien said, and opened his email inbox. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope."

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: SummerJust now

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Do you think that's true?

x.x.x

LadybugRE: SummerJust now

Been wondering about that myself.

To Be Continued

A/N: I don't expect to finish another chapter before the New Year, so I'll see you all in 2017! Please be safe if you're going out to celebrate. Stay close to friends and family, and if you plan on drinking, call a free ride service to get you home!

Excited for DJ Bubbler's show and romantic developments all around? Drop a review in that box and let me know.