20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.

Lucky Us

By: Princess Kitty1

Chapter 20

LadybugRE: Summer1 hour ago

Good morning, Chat Noir.

I hope you're feeling better.

I was thinking about the dog days of summer, and I realized they take place right in the middle of Leo's reigning period.

What's up with that?

x.x.x

Marinette lay in bed, staring at her bedroom ceiling with her pillow clutched to her chest, eyes wide, butterflies tumbling around in her stomach.

So. She was in love with Chat Noir. Now what?

For starters, she could apologize to Adrien properly. She'd been less than coherent the previous afternoon and he might have left feeling like she'd become unhinged. Which wasn't far from the truth, when she thought about it. She was in love with a guy she'd never met in person. Many people would call that insane. Still, Adrien had been worried about her, and she wanted to show him that she was okay and that she appreciated his support during her meltdown.

The next step would be meeting Chat Noir, which would solve most, if not all of her problems. But rather than exciting her, the thought of seeing him in person now terrified her far more than it used to. She wouldn't just be introducing herself to her longtime friend, she'd be introducing herself to the man she'd fallen in love with.

And what if he didn't like her? What if she didn't like him?

Marinette whined, wrapped her arms and legs around her pillow, and rolled onto her side. She should have sucked it up and met him before things became this complicated. "Stupid," she grumbled at no one in particular. Her cell phone vibrated.

Alya Cesaire: Meet me at the park at noon. Carousel. SUPER IMPORTANT.

Marinette frowned. What could be so important that Alya couldn't tell her over a text message? And was feeling disappointed when a notification wasn't Chat Noir going to become a thing for her now? She hoped not, but it seemed inevitable.

Marinette blew out her bangs and climbed out of bed, leaving her pillow behind. Being in love sucked. For starters, she had a surplus of affection that she didn't know what to do with. Every sappy, simpering song that wandered across her Pandora station made her want to cry into a tub of ice cream. She'd watched some black and white film on the free movie channel the night before and spent at least thirty minutes of it imagining how nice it would be to kiss and be kissed again. And when she'd finally gone to sleep, her bed felt too big. She'd spent the whole night tossing and turning and wishing for a warm body to snuggle with.

Nathanael used to jokingly call her lovebug—now she understood why. Marinette Dupain-Cheng in love was a menace.

She went through her morning yoga routine, showered, dressed, and checked her phone. This time there was an email from Chat Noir, which would have made her happy if she hadn't remembered he was currently heartbroken over another woman.

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: Summer19 minutes ago

Couldn't tell you. Although if I had to posit a theory, I'd say that it was far more difficult for academic groups to come to agreements on these sorts of things before the invention of the internet. Not only were they often born hundreds of years apart, they also had to travel to other countries on foot. Wearing sandals. In lands full of serpents and highway robbers.

Am I feeling better? No, I'm feeling mortified. How come no one ever talks about how embarrassing rejection is?

x.x.x

LadybugRE: SummerJust now

I think if more people knew, it would discourage them from falling in love in the first place.

The love industry needs people to fall so they can get hooked on falling, and therefore keep pumping money into diamonds and teddy bears and greeting cards.

And time shares.

It's pretty sordid, Chat Noir.

x.x.x

Adrien got a chuckle out of that. Leave it to his Lady to make him laugh when he didn't feel like laughing.

The only thing that kept him from calling in sick that morning was the knowledge that his father returned from Milan that evening. Adrien didn't want Gabriel poking around in his fresh, bleeding wounds. He didn't want anyone poking around in them, including Nino, who'd texted him to meet him at the park by Marinette's bakery to discuss an "urgent matter." Adrien would keep the details to himself, at least until he felt better.

He sighed as he switched from his secret email to his personal email to his work email. So much noise. What would he do after the design competition ended?

I'll be cheering for you, too.

Adrien opened a new tab and typed the name of the local university into his search bar. Then he snorted, closed out the internet window, and stood up. He had a meeting to attend.

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: Summer12 minutes ago

Normally I'd be the first person to defend love against any accusations that it's nothing more than a money-hungry corporation, but I'm not in the mood today.

(Are you sure moping is supposed to be cathartic? Because I just feel like a used napkin.)

x.x.x

Marinette smiled at her cell phone screen. She knew the feeling.

If she'd sucked it up and met Chat Noir before all of this had happened, they could have been having this conversation at a bistro somewhere. He'd sigh all over his food, she'd offer him advice, and maybe a comforting hand on the shoulder, or an even more comforting hug…

Or, she thought, they wouldn't be having this conversation at all. They'd be walking through Paris, hand-in-hand, searching for a place to have lunch and sneaking kisses on street corners.

"Oh God," she groaned before she grabbed her purse and marched downstairs. Two days into her newly awakened feelings and she already couldn't stand herself.

The Parisian sky had a distinct haze that afternoon, but the day remained warm. Since she was only going to see Alya, Marinette hadn't put much thought into her ensemble: a tank top, shorts, high ponytail, and the nicest sandals she had to make it look like she'd carefully considered her outfit. She locked the bakery door, dumped her keys in her purse, and crossed the street. There were a good number of people at the park, mostly students on summer vacation. One of her regulars, Monsieur Ramier, sat on a bench with a bag of bread crumbs in hand and a small gathering of pigeons at his feet. He waved at her as she passed by.

The carousel was at the opposite end of the park, tucked into a corner. As Marinette drew closer to it, she caught sight of Alya, business casual in a pantsuit and her favorite satchel. But she wasn't alone. Beside her stood Nino, rubbing the back of his neck, and perched sideways on one of the carousel horses was Adrien, dressed in a suit, looking for all the world like Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders. Marinette got the impression that if he'd been holding an ice cream cone, he would have been letting it drip all over his fingers.

Then Adrien lifted his head, spotted her, and straightened up with an embarrassed smile, which gave Marinette's presence away to Alya and Nino as well. She approached the carousel with caution. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Nice of you to join us," Alya said in the frosty tone that Marinette recognized as her you're-in-trouble voice. She gestured to the carousel horse behind Adrien's. "Please, have a seat."

Marinette looked at Nino. He mouthed an apology. Embarrassed Adrien, apologetic Nino, annoyed Alya. Marinette knew exactly what this meeting was about. She dropped her purse at the foot of the horse, which turned out to be a unicorn, and climbed up onto it, letting her legs dangle over the side.

Alya stared at her. "Fake dating," she said. "At our age? Really?"

Marinette, having years of experience with her best friend's wrath, decided the easiest thing to do in this situation was to throw Adrien under the bus. She pointed at him. "It was his idea."

Adrien's jaw dropped. "Thanks, Marinette!"

"Hey, I only agreed to go along with it," Marinette said. She threw Adrien a playful smile. "You didn't say anything about sticking around if we got caught."

Adrien didn't seem to know what to say to this. He opened and closed his mouth, then looked away. Alya, on the other hand, was not finished speaking. "I don't know you very well, Adrien, so you're off the hook. But you, Marinette! I expected better from you."

Marinette grinned. "Then that was your first mistake. You know I love playing matchmaker," she said. Alya rolled her eyes; she did know that. "What does it matter, anyway? You and Nino are, uh, together? Seeing each other? Whatever you are, you're happy about it, right?" She put her hands behind her head and leaned back, forgot there was nothing to lean against, and had to flail forward to keep from falling. "Mission accomplished."

Nino put a hand on Alya's shoulder. "She's got a point. I'm kind of grateful that they went to the trouble," he said.

Alya's chin jutted forward, a clear indication that she still wanted to be angry, but when Nino smiled at her she visibly softened. Marinette would have squealed if she hadn't been in the middle of getting scolded. "Okay," Alya said to her. "You get a pass. But only because your birthday is this week."

Adrien's head swiveled around. "What?"

Marinette checked the date on her phone. In all the excitement of the design competition and discovering her feelings for Chat Noir, she'd completely overlooked her own birthday. "Oh," she murmured, "it is, isn't it?"

"When—?" Adrien coughed. "When is it? What day?"

"Tuesday," Marinette said. She habitually checked her email despite the lack of notifications, and rolled her eyes at her own disappointment. Was this her chance? Could she tell Chat Noir about her birthday, and ask about his while she was at it? Or would he find her sudden willingness to divulge personal information suspicious?

Well. She had until Tuesday to decide.

"Marinette has a nice dinner with her parents every year," Alya said, "but since they won't be back for another couple of weeks…" She stepped up onto the carousel and threw an arm around Marinette's shoulders. "What say we throw you a party instead?"

Marinette made a face. "A party on a Tuesday? Who would even show up? Manon and most of my employees skipped town the moment the bakery closed…"

"The three of us would show up," Alya cried.

Nino raised his hand. "Why don't we have the party at my place? I've got a sweet music setup, Marinette wouldn't have to worry about cleaning afterwards…"

Marinette smiled at him. A thrilling prospect, and offering to host the party would score him major gentleman points with Alya. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea," she said. "And I'm fine if it's just the four of us." She looked at Adrien, but he seemed unusually engrossed in his carousel horse.

"Great," Alya said. "Then it's decided. Nino, you bring the music. I'll bring the food. Adrien, bring your fake girlfriend a present. And Marinette, you bring yourself." She whipped out her phone and checked the time. "I have to get back to the office." She pointed her phone at Marinette. "But we'll talk more about this fake dating thing later."

Nino gestured at Alya's retreating figure. "I'll, uh, walk her there."

Marinette shook her head. Of course he'd used that as an excuse to avoid facing her and Adrien's combined wrath. And speaking of Adrien, she watched as he slid off his carousel horse, sighed, and turned to face her.

"Sorry," he said. "If I hadn't told Nino about our arrangement, Alya wouldn't be mad at you now."

"I don't think she's mad," Marinette said. "I mean, she might be a little mad. She had high hopes for our relationship."

Adrien stooped over, picked up Marinette's purse, and handed it to her. "She wasn't the only one."

Marinette blinked. "What?"

"Nino," Adrien clarified. "He was bummed to hear the whole thing was a charade." He held his hand out to Marinette with a warm smile. She accepted it, and slid off the carousel unicorn as gracefully as she could. Her thighs had gotten stuck to the damn thing. "On that note…" Adrien said as they fell into step on their way out of the park. "How did things go with your friend yesterday?"

Marinette squawked. "M-My friend? What about him?" She pressed her hands against her rapidly warming cheeks.

Adrien nudged her with his elbow. "Did you confess?"

Marinette took a deep breath. Get a grip, she thought. She was supposed to be apologizing to Adrien for scaring him. But it also occurred to her that Adrien was the first person she'd ever told about Chat Noir—although she hadn't actually told him anything specific—and the unburdening made her heart feel so much lighter. "I can't confess to him now," she said. "Not when he has feelings for someone else. I mean, it'd be tasteless, right? 'Nice weather we're having lately. Oh by the way, I'm in love with you.'"

When she got no immediate response from Adrien, she looked over at him. He looked up from the ground and smiled at her. "You're right," he said. "Completely tasteless. You should at least make it sound like you considered the timing."

"Right," Marinette agreed, though she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with him. "But at the same time, I can't wait until he's standing at the altar to come barging in on his wedding like some soap opera heroine."

"I don't know." Adrien stroked his chin. "You might convince him to marry you if you pull off such a dramatic entrance."

"Or I might convince him to call the police and have me hauled out of the church," Marinette said. She left out the part where Chat Noir was a total stranger to her and barging in on his wedding would, in all likelihood, get her thrown out. She'd be forever remembered as the random, hysterical woman who tried to sabotage his wedding for no good reason. She sighed. "I will tell him, though. I will. When the timing is right. But in the meantime, I want to apologize again for freaking you out yesterday."

Adrien shrugged. "You were distressed. There's nothing to apologize for."

"Let me make it up to you," Marinette said. She stepped in front of him and walked in reverse, hands clasped behind her back. "Come over Sunday. I've got another recipe I want to try out, and it'll take me a day or two to tinker with." He could keep insisting she had nothing to make up for, but she knew that he wouldn't pass up an invitation for free dessert.

Sure enough, he gave her a look that bordered on suspicion, but then his eyes flickered past her shoulder and—

"Watch out!"

—Marinette suddenly found herself pressed flush against Adrien's body. She blinked once. Twice. Heard skateboards breeze past and a halfhearted apology from a kid she couldn't see because the only thing she could see were Adrien's shirt buttons, up close and personal. The surplus of affection in her brain told her this was a good thing. A nice thing. Hadn't she been sorely craving a person to snuggle into just the night before? Couldn't she simply close her eyes and pretend that—

Nope. Nope. Absolutely not. The moment Adrien's grip on her shoulder relaxed, Marinette stepped away from him. "Uh, thanks."

Adrien seemed determined not to look at her. "Don't mention it," he said.

Marinette pressed her lips together. Was he shy about physical contact? Pretty unexpected from a guy who'd had no qualms about kissing her cheek when they were fake dating.

They resumed walking, this time reaching the end of the park without incident. Marinette whirled on him before he could escape. "So you'll come over on Sunday, right?" she asked. "Because if you don't, I'm going to have to eat that whole cake by myself, and I know it doesn't look like I can, but trust me, I can."

"If it'll keep you from eating yourself into a coma, then yes, I'll come over," Adrien replied. "What time?"

Marinette thought about it. Even with the bakery closed for the month, she still liked sleeping in on Sundays. "Better make it two-ish," she said. That would give her enough time to prepare the cake and let it sit for a while.

They said their goodbyes and parted ways. Marinette stood on the side of the road, waiting for a break in traffic so she could cross to the bakery. She ran her hands over her arms. The phantom warmth of Adrien's body lingered on her bare skin.

With a frustrated whine, she ran across the street. If she didn't do something about Chat Noir soon, the lovebug was going to drive her insane.

x.x.x

LadybugRE: SummerJust now

It takes a little while for the catharsis to kick in, I promise.

You're doing great.

"Used napkin' is a step above "old flag flapping in a thunderstorm," so remember that it could be worse.

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: SummerJust now

Thank you, Ladybug, for that su-purr-emely unhelpful attempt at encouragement.

x.x.x

LadybugRE: SummerJust now

Hey!

Wait, you made a pun.

YOU MADE A PUN.

CHAT NOIR IS ON THE MEND.

x.x.x

Chat NoirRE: SummerJust now

I suppose I did get a little wind in my sails this morning. And jokes aside, I appreciate your attempts to cheer me up. Though it's funny how when I'm in a good mood, you're always the first to rip into me. Why is that, Ladybug?

x.x.x

LadybugRE: SummerJust now

Because I'm the only one who's allowed to make you feel bad. :-)

x.x.x

Adrien shook his head. If she kept flirting with him like this, he was going to get the wrong idea.

He checked the time on his phone and looked down the street. Right on schedule, a limousine rounded the corner. He waved at it as it approached, and once it pulled up beside him, he opened the door and climbed in.

Chloe sat on the other end of the seat, drink in hand. "This better be good. I had to reschedule my full-body massage, and you know I get cranky when I haven't been rubbed down by a handsome massage therapist."

"I thought you were cranky all the time," Adrien said, and smothered his smile when she glared at him. He picked out a water bottle from the limo's mini fridge. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Get to the point."

"Marinette's birthday is on Tuesday. I need to buy her a present. Will you help me look for one?"

Chloe's lip curled. "What are you, twelve? Do it yourself."

"Come on, Chlo, I'm trying to make a good impression here." Adrien thought about pouting to win her favor, then realized that was exactly the sort of thing a twelve-year-old might do.

"What kind of good impression do you expect to make if I pick the gift out for you?" Chloe asked. She signaled to the driver to keep moving. "Besides, you know Marinette better than I do. I'd say to get her a diamond ring"—Adrien choked on his water—"but she seems like the type who'd be happier with something homey, like oven mitts." She shivered. "By the way, have you had lunch yet? We're getting lunch."

Adrien wiped his mouth. "I'm not getting her a diamond ring. Or oven mitts." He sighed and leaned back against the seat. "But it can't be just anything, either," he murmured. He caught Chloe staring at him. "What?"

"Something happened," she said.

Crap. Adrien forgot Chloe could smell changes in his mood the way most people could smell a coming rainstorm. "No," he said, his voice weak and high pitched, "not really…"

"Spit it out."

"Marinette's in love with someone else."

"What?" Chloe yelled so loud that Adrien's ears rang.

"But," Adrien interrupted before she could explode, "but she hasn't told him how she feels about him yet, and according to her, he's interested in someone else, so I still have a chance." He held his hands out in front of him in case Chloe decided to turn the glass she held into a projectile. Her face was bright red.

"That's impossible," she snarled. "I talked to her not even two weeks ago!"

"And she told you that she liked me?" Adrien asked tentatively. Damn the stubborn part of him that still hoped. When Chloe didn't look him in the eye, he sighed. "Right," he said. "So I want to get her something that stands out, something that will always make her think of me. In a good way."

Chloe let out a distracted murmur and tossed back the rest of her drink. Adrien could tell she was still trying to figure out what the heck had happened, and honestly, he wouldn't have minded the answer to that question himself. How could Chloe, Nino, and Alya have been so certain that Marinette had a crush on him unless she'd said something to them? How could all three of them have gotten it so wrong?

The limo pulled up to the front of Le Grand Paris and the doorman rushed forward to help them out. Chloe ignored his offered hand. Adrien waved it away with a polite smile.

"Alright," Chloe said as the doorman ran past them to open the lobby door, "I'll help you. But don't take that as an admission that I was wrong, because I wasn't wrong."

Adrien patted her on the back. "Whatever you say, Chlo."

"Ugh! What's he doing here again?" Chloe snapped.

Adrien looked past her. Jagged Stone, as flamboyantly dressed as ever, stood in the lobby with his pet crocodile Fang, having what appeared to be a tense conversation with the concierge.

"What do you mean it's closed?" Jagged shouted.

The concierge managed to keep a professional expression. "I'm terribly sorry, Monsieur Stone. According to Paris law, the bakeries on this side of the city must close for the month of August—"

"Yeah, I heard you the first time!" Jagged tugged Fang away from an unsuspecting woman's skirt. "Unbelievable. I spend weeks talking this Dupain-Cheng girl up and the moment we return to France, the bakery is closed! Where am I supposed to take my Penny for our anniversary dessert?"

Adrien grabbed Chloe by the arms. "Excuse me," he said, then gently moved her out of the way before nearly tripping over himself in his hurry to get to the concierge desk. He kept a wide berth of Fang, but still managed to enter the scene with his model charm cranked as high as it could go. "Hello there, Monsieur Stone." He threw him his trademark megawatt smile. "Adrien Agreste, supermodel, son of fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, huge fan of your music."

"As you should be," Jagged said.

"I couldn't help but overhear your dilemma, on account of the fact that you were yelling loud enough to broadcast it to the entire lobby. You know, I happen to be a close friend of Ms. Dupain-Cheng's. This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng we're talking about, right?"

Jagged sized him up with a wary glance. "Yeah. Her friend interviewed me here last month and brought me some killer samples from her bakery." He produced a business card from his leather jacket. Sure enough, it bore Tom and Sabine's logo, phone number, and Marinette's name written in what must have been Alya's handwriting.

Adrien tried to keep his smile from becoming manic. "What if I told you that I can talk to Ms. Dupain-Cheng for you?"

Jagged crossed his arms. "I'd say you'd better not be lying to me, kid."

Adrien turned to Chloe, who stood near the door with the same disgusted glare as before. "Hear that? Jagged Stone called me kid." He cleared his throat and forced himself to subdue the fan boy. This was it. The birthday present of the century, the gift Marinette would never forget. "Will Sunday at two o'clock work for you and your wife, Monsieur Stone?"

To Be Continued

A/N: Welcome back to Fluff Central. I'll be your unreliable tour guide, Princess Kitty. Be aware that I am still on hiatus so I may leave you unattended here for a while. I'm trying to find a decent work-and-play balance to maintain my sanity.

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