9. Origins: Prologue

Sunlight streamed through the windows. Outside, Chat could hear the buzzing of a bee and his ear twitched, but he remained put. It would take something a lot bigger than a bee to get him to move from his current spot, nestled on Marinette’s bed, playing with her hair as his girlfriend snoozed against his chest.

He sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

“You ok?”

Marinette lifted up her head, as if sensing his mind was a little far from the paradise it should’ve been. Her thumb stroked against his chest in a subconscious comforting manner and he pulled her tighter in reassurance. “Yeah,” he sighed. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“Uh-oh,” she giggled, pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth, and he tilted his head in response, pulling her into a softer kiss. “I’ve heard thinking is a dangerous pastime. Whatcha thinking about?”

“Ah nothing, it’s stupid,” Chat looked away, embarrassed to have been caught out. Because it was stupid- it was. Before she had a chance to press further, he perked up, bringing them both to a sitting position. “But I do have something for you! For our anniversary. Well I guess it’s not technically an anniversary, though I’ve never been in a relationship for six months before so I- err-”

He was saved from his bashful babbling by Marinette, who casually bopped him on the nose. “Easy, Fluffy, I bought you a gift too.”

“Fluffy?” His mouth dropped open, but he didn’t have a chance to respond to the nickname before Marinette hurled herself off the bed, almost tripping down the ladder as she beckoned him to follow her. He complied, letting her lead him to her desk.

“Ta-dah!” she cried, beaming as she held out the gift. “I made this myself years ago. It’s always brought me luck but…well-” she lowered her head for a moment, a pink tinge to her cheeks. “I don’t need luck anymore. Not since I met you.”

Tentatively, Chat reached out to take the bracelet from her. It was intricate full of beads of varying sizes, and looked like it had taken hours to craft. He stared at it for a while, a lump forming in his throat.

Nobody had ever given him something so personal and, whilst it was a gesture that meant more to him than he could ever put into words, it also made him acutely aware of the gaping hole in his chest. The hole where things like this should’ve been, an everyday part of life that he’d never gotten the chance to experience. It was moments like this that reminded him just how deprived he’d been. “Thank you,” he whispered, still staring at the little charm. He couldn’t look at Marinette, couldn’t look up and see the love he’d been lacking his whole life. Not now.

He felt her step into his space, wrapping her arms around his middle and snuggling into his side. He smiled, and the lump in his throat faded into obscurity. “Don’t meowntion it!” she said with a giggle, then wrinkled her nose, looking more than a little offended by her own pun. It was too cute.

Chat grinned, kissing the top of her head. “The gift I have for you- I hid it when I came over. Check under your pillows.”

Marinette’s eyebrow quirked and she pulled out of their embrace to shoot him a suspicious look. “You’re not just saying that so you can check out my butt as I climb the ladder, are you?”

“Absolutely not!” Chat pressed a hand to his heart and Marinette hummed in disbelief, even as she slipped out of his arms and made her way back up to her bed. His eyes trailed after her. “Though now you mention it, that’s an unintended purrk.”

He was rewarded for his flirtations by a cushion flying straight at his face. Chat laughed, cuddling up to the cushion as he waited for Marinette to find his present. He hoped she would like it…

“Chat NOIR!”

Ok. Maybe not.

Marinette was stomping back towards him, face red and full of righteous… fury? Embarrassment? Awe? Chat didn’t know but the look (coupled with the shrieking) made him unexpectedly terrified. “Princess?” He replied tentatively.

She shook her head, showing him the red box which contained her present. “I can’t accept this!”

His heart sunk and he tilted his head, trying not to look too hurt. God, he knew it. He just knew when he bought it that it was dumb. He should’ve bought her something practical, like a lifetimes supply of sewing materials, or an internship at his father’s fashion house- though it’d be complicated to explain the latter one. “Is- is something wrong with it?”

Marinette gaped at him, then at the box, then at him again and Chat got the distinct feeling he was missing something. After spluttering through a few garbled syllables, she managed to blurt out “CARTIER!”

Chat blinked, tilting his head. “Yeah, that’s where I got it…err…do you not…like…Cartier?” Maybe he should have gone to Tiffany’s instead.

He’d never seen Marinette’s eyes so wide. It would have been cute, if he wasn’t so lost. “Chat! I- that’s not- I mean, no. Cartier is fine- good? Amazing! But I can’t accept it- it’s- how did you even afford it?!”

Oh.

Oh.

It was then that he understood, and he wanted to kick himself. The idea of it being expensive hadn’t even crossed his mind. Of course Marinette knew the price tag, she was a fashion student! And now she was standing there, wondering how a seemingly every day, run of the mill superhero could afford something like a Cartier bracelet.

Shit.

When Chat didn’t reply for a while (frozen in his own stupidity), Marinette prompted him a little bit. She sighed, stepping forwards. “Chat…”

“I had a cu-paw-n!” he blurted, in a strangled voice.

She frowned. “Chat.”

“I have a superhero salary!”

“No you don’t,” she snorted.

“I’m a cat burglar?”

“Really?”

“…No.”

Marinette laughed, making sure she held the box and didn’t accidentally drop it as her shoulders shook. “Is this the part where you reveal you’re like, Bruce Wayne? Rich guy by day, black-clad superhero by night?”

She giggled again, wiping at her eyes, before becoming acutely the aware that she was the only one laughing. When she glanced back at Chat, at his pale expression and tight lips, her jaw dropped open again. “Oh my GOD, you arrrre!”

“NO! No,” Chat adjusted his volume to something less incriminating, waving his arms frantically. Then panicking as the beads on the charm Marinette had given him rattled. He clutched it to his chest tightly. He’d messed up, he’d messed up so badly. “I’m not rich! My- my parents are rich.”

“That’s just what a rich person says!” Marinette’s eyes sparkled, her face filled with glee. When Chat’s face dropped, his ears flattening against his head, Marinette patted his arm. “Relax kitty. I’m just teasing! One of my best friends comes from a wealthy family too. I promise I won’t treat you differently now I know. Though-” she looked down at the bracelet box- “are you sure this wasn’t expensive for you? It’s just so much.”

She squirmed looking down. Before, when she’d seen the Cartier box and realised exactly what he’d bought her, she reacted without thinking. Automatically, she’d assumed she couldn’t accept such an expensive present. Horrific images had plagued her mind of a starving de-masked Chat Noir, lying on the street because he’d swapped his rent money for a bracelet. She hadn’t even looked at it.

When she noticed Chat’s boots, standing underneath the box as he closed the gap between them, she felt a rush of warmth. Gently, Chat removed the box from her grasp, placing the charm that she’d given him on the desk nearby. His smile was small, soft and fond as he opened the box.

Marinette couldn’t help but gasp. The bracelet was small, two white gold chains linked by a small hoop at the end. The word love was twice engraved into the hoop, set with two small diamonds. It was beautiful, and Marinette was speechless.

“It’s called a Love Bracelet,” he explained, his voice low and full of everything the bracelet represented. Taking the bracelet from the box, and placing the box beside his own charm, he took Marinette’s hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. A breath of air rushed out of her lungs. She felt dizzy. “I thought about it for ages, which one to get you.” He wrapped it around her wrist, and the action felt more intimate somehow, than any of their previous encounters. “This one is small so- if you wear it and it’s ok if you don’t or you don’t like it and want to get a new one- I thought, you know, that it wouldn’t get in way when you’re sewing or doing art.”

As soon as the clasp was secure, Marinette reached out to the charm. She mirrored Chat’s movements from before, kissing his gloved hand and then tying the lucky charm to his wrist. For a moment, they looked and their entwined hands, the diamonds sparkling, the beads bright and full of life.

There weren’t enough words to describe it. Except. “Happy anniversary, Princess.”

Marinette launched herself at Chat, planting a firm kiss on his lips. He responded just as fiercely, carrying her back up the ladder. Using one hand to carry her, and the other to climb.

They landed heavily on the bed, Chat cradling her head with one hand, the other on her hip. He pulled away, smiling. She gazed back, hair fanned out on the pillow, cheeks flushed, the green ribbons a little ruffled but still holding strong.

God, she was so beautiful.

“I love you,” he whispered, nuzzling his nose against hers in a kitten kiss.

“I love you too,” she replied, scratching at his hair. And just like that he melted into her side. She chuckled as he shuffled into her, exaggerating his movements as he kissed any part of her skin that he could reach, her shoulder, her neck, her cheek. She squealed when he got to the ticklish part behind her ear and he beamed. “Even if you are a tease.”

It was just as they were getting into it, that Marinette’s phone (which she was unknowingly lying on top of) decided to vibrate. As it hit a ticklish spot, she shrieked, launching up on instinct and colliding head-first with Chat’s nose. Both of them gave a start, yelping with shock.

Chat, being superpowered, was the first to recover. He looked to Marinette, who was clutching her head. “Princess, are you ok?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Gosh your head is like a rock you know,” she mumbled, rubbing the sore spot.

“Yeah, not exactly the hard place I was thinking of when I started kissing you,” he winked as his tail came to wrap around her waist.

“Ok, I may have killed the mood, but you just desecrated the mood’s corpse!” Marinette laughed, patting his head. He responded by flopping dramatically on her lap, purring low.

They stayed that way for a while. When Marinette’s phone began to vibrate more, she sighed, checking her message with a pout. “Alya keeps messaging me about Superhero Day next week.”

Chat sat up, trying to keep his face passive. Superhero Day… the anniversary of his and Ladybug’s defeat of Hawkmoth and the Puppet Master controlling him. It had been a couple of years since his defeat, but it was still an emotional time. To commemorate the occasion, people all over France (and some from all over the world) converged on the Eiffel Tower, to watch a spectacular fireworks display and dress up in Ladybug and Chat Noir costumes- all to raise money for charity.

“Are you going- to the meet-up?” He asked, feeling a sudden bout of shyness.

Marinette scoffed, then covered her mouth, her eyes wide. The action confused him, so he allowed her to explain. “No? I mean- yes. Maybe. It’s- yeah.”

Chat frowned. That didn’t really explain much.

Luckily for him, Marinette was in a rambling mood. “I guess I didn’t… err… know if I should be there or not. This is your time with Ladybug and all. I don’t want to take that away from you. I know you two are… great friends.”

She looked away from him then, hiding her face behind her hair. And suddenly Chat understood.

Cupping her chin with his fingers, he lifted her head up to face him, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

“Ladybug means the world to me,” he said, voice full of conviction. “I love her a lot. She’s my best friend, and she’s amazing. But she’s not you.”

Marinette didn’t say anything so Chat went on, stroking her cheek. “There was a time when I had nobody. I didn’t realise it the time, how lonely and isolated I was. Ladybug- she was one of the first true friends I ever made, and she helped me a lot. It’s because of her that I’m here now, as happy as I am. And I am happy, especially with you. She- she means so much to me, and in a way, it’s because of her I was able to meet you.” He smiled. “There’s no Chat Noir without Ladybug.”

“She’s your best friend,” Marinette was smiling back, but Chat thought he could see a hint of something sad there. He didn’t like that, so he shuffled closer, kissing her neck.

“The best,” he agreed. “We’ve been through so much together, grown together really. But you don’t have anything to worry about if that’s what you mean. I may be a bit of a stray, but I’m not an alley cat.”

“I’m going to pretend I know what you mean,” Marinette giggled but, again, it didn’t seem completely sincere. What was the matter? Did he say something wrong? “If what I think you mean is what you mean though, I wasn’t worried about that. I trust you.”

His smile grew ten times brighter, his heart floated. I trust you, I trust you, I trust you. The words floated through his mind in a blissful, love sick haze.

And then they settled like a dead weight.

She trusted him.

He swallowed, thinking of all the time she looked at Adrien, not Chat, not knowing. Ever since the night of Nathanael’s akuma, he’d tried to bring up the truth. But the truth always got stuck in his throat, and his fear held it there. So, he remained, choking and gasping for air until Marinette’s love and kindness allowed him to shove the truth back down. He’d held if off for so long, and now they’d admitted they love each other- it was that much more terrifying.

“I trust you too,” he nodded. The words tasted bitter on his tongue. He laid down next to her, opening his arms wide. “Come here?”

She complied, tucking into his side and resting her head on his chest, nuzzling into a nook that seemed as though it was made for her, and finally it felt like he could breath.

“I almost lost her once, you know, when Hawkmoth was defeated,” he admitted because damn it if she was going to trust him so much, he was going to prove he could trust her. “It’s- it’s still hard to even think about it. I let her down so badly.”

“You did not!” she blurted out, and he stared, startled by her conviction. Marinette, too, seemed caught off guard by it and the fire in her eyes lessened. “I can’t ever imagine someone as noble and brave as you letting anyone down, especially not her.”

Chat smiled sadly, staring up at the ceiling. He felt the weight of Marinette’s lucky charm on his wrist, and closed his eyes, allowing himself to soak in the feeling of his girlfriend’s warmth by his side, to hear her breathing.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Sometimes this time of year, it gets to me. So much good but so many horrible memories.”

“I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for you,” Marinette whispered, burying further into his embrace. “I’m so sorry, Chat.”

Chat opened his eyes, turning until his eyes met hers. “You don’t have to be sorry! I didn’t even know you back then. Ugh, I don’t even know why I’m being such a downer! I’m totally ruining our anniversary, like a big dope.” He sat up, ruffling his own hair in frustration.

“It’s ok to feel sad, you know. You aren’t spoiling anything,” Marinette reassured, patting his arm.

Chat didn’t say anything, he simply smiled sadly at her. After all, how could she know that he’d been told the exact opposite for most of his life?

“Do you want to hear about how we met? I’m sure you remember some of it, but it’s a much happier story.”

Marinette gave him a look, one which he couldn’t read, before tugging him back down to her bed.

“Sure, who doesn’t love a good bedtime story?”

“It’s the afternoon, Princess.”

“I’m a student, Chat, bedtime is any time.”

Chat laughed, pulling her close. “Ok, point taken. Well, it all began four years ago…”

~