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For once, Adrien realised the beauty in being carried away from danger.
“Adrien!”
The horde of screaming fangirls (and boys!) was no match for a 15-year old boy with superpower-induced strength, how would any normal civilian survive this?
A red-clad arm hoisted him up again to make sure he didn’t slip out of her grasp. Ladybug stopped running for a second, landing them into an alley close by the Seine. She looked down at her damsel in distress.
“Are you alright?”
That, Adrien thought, was the beauty in being carried away from danger.
She narrowed her eyes as he remained silent, instead simply gazing at her.
Ladybug decided to set him down out of her bridal style carry. Adrien silently mourned the loss, but it seemed to have snapped him out of his daze.
“Yes- yes, I’m fine,” he reassured, dusting his shirt.
She crossed her arms. “You’re pretty famous, huh.”
Unfortunately, as he was every day, but especially today. He was just trying to grab a snack at the cafe and watch a movie with his friends. Instead a fan snaps a picture of him, posts it, and soon enough, 50 or so people are chasing him with a croissant down the road.
He sighed. “Nino’s gonna be so mad I ditched. If we had gone to Marinette’s bakery to get something, this wouldn’t have happened, but Alya said she had an assignment or something.”
Ladybug flushed. She had told Alya she had missed patrol last night from actually doing an assignment and had to make it up today. She was just about to head back when she saw a mop of blonde hair (and a tiny croissant in his hands) running from what could’ve been an akumatised mob. Soon enough, she was swinging her yoyo across the city with Adrien Agreste in her arms.
Adrien ran a hand through his hair. “Unlucky. I was going to buy something for her after the movie too.”
“Alya?”
“No, Marinette. Her birthday’s in a few days.”
Her heart sped up. He remembered her birthday? And he was going to get something for her?
A quiet rumbling arose, muffled by the distance, but faded away quickly enough. Ladybug twitched at the sound and yanked Adrien’s arm down to hide behind a dumpster. She leaned forward in her crouch, anticipating.. something.
But almost instantaneously, she sprung herself back behind the dumpster, and a horde – the horde — ran completely past the alley the moment after.
It was incredible how strong her intuition was.
“You know, there’s a surefire way to get them all off your back.”
He tilted his head, silently prompting her answer.
“Get a girlfriend.”
His pulse stilled for a moment.
Ladybug continued to scour the area, making sure no stray fangirl was left running behind when they came out of their hiding spot.
“I’m serious. If you get one, all of your crazy fans would latch onto the next handsome, young, famous blond guy.”
“Sorry, what did you call me?”
Was the rabid screaming giving him tinnitus or did Ladybug, the actual love of his life, just call him handsome?
She turned back to him, ribbons bouncing. “You are a natural blond, aren’t you? Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. Teen girls like blond guys.”
(“Including me,” Marinette left unspoken.)
Standing up, she took his hand and ran out of the alley across the road to a secluded corner of the park, away from the prying eyes of families having picnics.
“Yeah, that’s about the only thing they like about me. And that I have money, and I guess my looks – as you pointed out.”
Perhaps it was now when Marinette realised she called her crush handsome to his face, but luckily Adrien didn’t catch it, instead continuing.
“Sure, I need someone to be my girlfriend, but it’s not like anyone likes me enough to actually date me.”
“Hey, they don’t have to like you. They just have to exist.”
“So a fake relationship,” Adrien responded dryly.
It was almost funny how confident Ladybug was with her nod and smile.
Almost so funny that Adrien would have laughed if he wasn’t trying his hardest to hide what he really thought.
The only girl Adrien wanted to be with, fake or not (but preferably the latter), was standing in front of him, gaudy smile and hands on hips, telling him to date someone else while she was frolicking away with him like a damsel in distress. He wanted to be with Ladybug , and only Ladybug.
(But if she wasn’t here, maybe another blue-haired girl could just as easily make him feel the same. Adrien dispelled the unexpected thought quickly.)
The tree’s roots scuttled. Ladybug scooped him up in a second, ready to zip away – but the cat emerged from the bush, no longer scavenging for food, and leapt away.
“Oh,” Ladybug said very intelligently.
Still in her arms, Adrien tapped Ladybug’s shoulder. She took it as a sign to lay him down, but he stopped her.
“Don’t you think,” he coughed, a blush creeping up his cheeks, “this kind of thing should be.. reserved for my girlfriend?” He gestured to their poses.
A squeak came from her mouth and her knees buckled, but surprisingly still had no struggle keeping Adrien up.
“Not that I mind!” He was quick to reassure her, but Ladybug had taken to hopping leg to leg, trying to decide how to get him out of her arms like a hot potato.
“But it’s not like I can just leave you to their feral hands,” she almost whined. “Being in a relationship probably means you won’t have any more rabid followers, but- but-”
It seems Marinette had assumed that even with Adrien in a relationship, she would still be escorting him away from a large crowd of 0 people.
Yes, she had barely talked to him at all as Ladybug. Yes, she doubted he thought this runaway business was more than a one time thing. But she couldn’t help it. As Ladybug, she had a once in a lifetime chance to talk to Adrien Agreste on a daily basis and not fumble on every word she uttered (hopefully).
And maybe it had hit her, just then, that she told her crush to go date someone else.
Why was she so stupid?
Adrien could practically hear her inner ramble with how loud her thoughts were, inching closer, unsure whether to poke the bear awake or leave it to drown in its teenage girl thoughts.
“You know, you could always be my girlfriend.”
Ladybug’s eyes bulged. She turned to him with a dropped jaw.
“ Fake , of course!” he said a little too loudly, a smile too wide to be genuine on his face. It held for a few seconds, then he grimaced and scratched the back of his neck.
“I know it’s not a very exciting prospect – all these girls and none of them even want to date me – but it wouldn’t be as suspicious,” he shrugged.
Ladybug opened her mouth to say something, but someone else beat her to it.
“I heard something! They’re over here!”
Both their heads perked up at the sound, and in the blink of an eye Ladybug was carrying him again, leaping over houses and buildings.
“You’re joking. You have to be.”
Rena Rouge shook her head, bouncing on her mattress cross-legged. Ladybug squinted at her, scrutinising her face to see if the fox was lying.
“Adrien does not have a crush on me.”
Instantly after dropping Adrien off at his house and zipping away, Marinette had come to (a transformed?) Alya, spilling her ramble about Adrien’s offer.
“Like I said. Adrien is down bad for Ladybug,” she shrugged. “Has been for the last 2 years. No wonder he asked you to be his fake not-fake girlfriend.”
“No, I would’ve noticed, surely-”
Rena pointed a finger into her chest. “You didn’t notice because you’re down bad for him .”
Marinette was still unconvinced - and she must’ve shown it in her face, because Rena sighed.
“Here, I’ll prove it.”
She de-transformed and brought out her phone, scrolling down her contacts until she found Nino. Marinette quickly tried to stop her (not knowing what Alya was doing, only knowing it couldn’t be good) but Alya held out a hand and dialled her boyfriend.
He picked up on the first ring.
“What’s up, babe?”
“Hey Nino. Marinette doesn’t believe me when I tell her how bad Adrien has it for LB. Can you believe that?” Alya wiggled her eyebrows at Marinette slightly.
“Whaaaat? It’s so obvious. He literally ditched us yesterday halfway through our snackstop, and 2 hours later, Ladybug’s carrying him bridal style on the news!”
Marinette, still transformed, was turning redder by the second. She scrambled up to Alya’s phone and put her face close to the microphone.
“But that was just because he was getting chased! She saved him like she would anyone else!”
“Yeah, poor Adrien,” the sigh was heard through the phone. “Always getting chased down. And yeah, maybe LB’s professional about it, but everyone knows Adrien’s just blushing whenever he sees her.”
Alya gave her an I-told-you-so look, and for once, Marinette had nothing to say.
“You know an awful lot about LB, Marinette. What are you, inside her head?”
His girlfriend swooped in to save the day for the very red-cheeked Ladybug. “You could say that. See you, babe.”
“Bye Als! Bye Marinette!”
Alya ended the call with one tap.
“See? What did I say.”
Okay, maybe Adrien Agreste did have a crush on her. That question was answered.
And after learning that kind of information, there was really only one path to take, no?
(Marinette was fully delusional.)
“Father, this is my girlfriend, Ladybug.”
The following day, they plucked up the courage to start this fake dating thing. What’s the first thing you do after a relationship gets serious? Meet the parents! Or, well, parent. And for obvious reasons, his was the only option. Nervously walking into his study, holding hands, Adrien held his breath.
Gabriel Agreste continued swiping around his screen, disinterested. “What’s her name?”
Adrien and Ladybug shared a look.
“Ladybug,” he repeated.
“What’s her favourite colour?”
It took Adrien’s brain a second to register a question, and once it had, it almost made him want to laugh and scoff at the same time. His father was trying to test him about his girlfriend, perhaps to see if they were actually that close. How dare he insinuate Adrien was lying!?
(He was, but that was besides the point.)
To any other fake-boyfriend civilian, this would be where the line ended. Gabriel would see that his son clearly didn’t know anything about his ‘girlfriend’, the ruse would be up, and Adrien would be condemned to a life of vigilante escape from girls who should be doing their 6th grade history homework.
But Adrien was no ordinary fake-boyfriend civilian. He knew Ladybug like the back of his hand- no, scratch that, he knew her like he knew breathing . Like he knew how to talk, but it seems whenever he was with Ladybug, he couldn’t even talk right.
“Green,” he declared, almost haughty if it weren’t for that it was his father.
Gabriel raised a hand to his chin. “Is it, now?”
Ladybug nodded impassively. She was, albeit, a little taken back that he had actually guessed it right, but after red, black, and maybe pink, there weren’t many options. Lucky guess, she chalked it up to.
“Does she have a job?”
“Saving Paris,” Adrien replied in a clipped tone.
“Studies?”
“High school, same year as me.”
“Income?”
Both teens were silent for a while, and though Gabriel didn’t move a muscle, they could feel his judgement radiating onto them, not without reason. What caring parent would send their child off with a reckless, barely employed, anonymous partner?
“The police department gives me donuts sometimes,” Ladybug said hesitantly, not that it helped their case.
The pause was lengthy and uncomfortable as they awaited his response.
Gabriel didn’t even look up from his screen.
“I believe you are quite young to have a partner, Adrien.”
If Adrien didn’t play his cards correctly right here and right now, condemnation was looking mighty plausible. But what could he say?
His moment of thought was disrupted as Gabriel’s desktop beeped. Surprisingly, he accepted the call. If Adrien and Ladybug weren’t so full of nerves right now, they would consider it disrespectful to pick up a call in the middle of a very important meeting
“Hello, Mr. Agreste!” a shrill, bright voice sounded from his tablet.
“I’m so excited to model with your son Adrien for your upcoming line, I’ll be sure to keep him away from any bad influences just like I promised you!”
Ladybug raised an eyebrow, unbeknownst to Gabriel as he stared at his screen with a blank look.
“And perhaps, with your permission, Mr. Agreste, Adrien and I could get even closer so I can ensure he isn’t talking to the wrong people.” The smile on her face was obvious through the audio, though Adrien’s father could probably even see the smile itself from his angle.
“Goodbye,” Gabriel said simply, and ended the call before Lila Rossi could respond.
Adrien winced. Silence stretched over the room’s atmosphere long and hollow.
Ladybug’s eyes kept darting across the place in the soundless room, legs twitching as if she had something better to do with her time than wait in Gabriel’s unenlightening presence, which, to be honest, she probably did.
A few more minutes passed where the only noises were Ladybug’s magic spandex feet tapping against the marble tiles and Adrien’s near-silent whistle. They hadn’t let go of their handhold the entire time.
Gabriel’s head rose.
“Welcome to the Agrestes, Ladybug,” he finally said with a feeble attempt at a smile. Or maybe he wasn’t trying and it was a trick of the light. It didn’t matter, this was the first step to really selling their relationship to the public and getting those stalker girls off Adrien’s back!
Ladybug meekly said her thanks and Adrien nodded politely, pulling his new girlfriend away before his father could change his mind.
After walking out of the studio doors and out the mansion, they released a heavy sigh in unison.
“We did it!” Ladybug held out a fist.
Adrien met her “pound it!” physically and vocally. She seemed like she was going to say more, but the akuma alert sounded. Ladybug opened the door, rushed him back inside and zipped away.
That’s my girlfriend , Adrien thought dreamily.
Instead of picking up Gabriel’s urgent call on her tablet, Nathalie simply walked into his studio.
“Yes, sir?”
He seemed to be pondering over his screen. The light blinded his spectacles white.
“I thought I would let you know that Adrien has a girlfriend now.”
Nathalie’s eyebrows raised.
“And you approved?”
Gabriel nodded. His hand came to his chin, but he still didn’t turn his head up, so she came around to face him.
“She has many connections. I believe it will do well for the brand, and Adrien seems to like her a lot. I already suspected he had a liking for her well before this meetup.”
Nathalie was starting to understand. She had already heard their voices earlier during their meetup, so she must be thinking of the same girl. She couldn’t approve more, the girl was kind, helpful, and known quite well around their area. Though, she had to double-check.
“Is this the girl Jagged Stone is affiliated with?”
Gabriel tilted his head slightly. “Loosely, yes, though he’s hardly the top of her list of references.”
Of course, she also had many other achievements as Nathalie knew. She bowed her head. “Then I understand your decision. I am happy for Adrien. Was there anything else you needed from me, sir?”
“Set up a dinner with them and myself next week.”
Nathalie nodded, letting the clacks of her heels take her out of his studio while she scheduled on her tablet, ‘Dinner with Gabriel, Adrien, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng’ .
Though it hadn’t seemed apparent at the time, Adrien’s new relationship must’ve really pleased his father, because why else would he allow Alya, Nino, and Marinette to come over to their house?
Adrien was giddy with excitement. He had been rambling to Plagg so much today that the kwami had snapped and stuck the remainder of his gooey camembert in the crevices of his ears, turning away and crossing his paws. Adrien had snickered at the sight.
The doorbell rang. Adrien pushed himself off his couch and slid down the stair railing to open the huge wooden doors.
“Hey, Marinette!”
Marinette looked a bit nervous, but she was always seeming a bit off guard so Adrien didn’t see much different. She waved weakly.
“Nino and Alya said they’re running around 15 minutes late, and they’re really sorry,” she held her phone up in her other hand.
Adrien shrugged. “That’s alright. Come on, let’s head up first!”
He took her hand – which, felt so very natural, the lines of her hand perfectly moulding to his, but whatever – and led the way.
“Hey, I heard from the others that you got carried away with- I mean by!- Ladybug yesterday, and now you’re together. How’s that?”
He perked up at that and turned back to her. Her face was unusually red, even for Marinette, and no matter how long he looked at her, she wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“It’s great!” Adrien smiled. “She’s so kind and pretty. Honestly, I’ve had a crush on her for a while.”
He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. None of this was a lie.
Marinette was nodding along, still flustered but eager to hear more.
“Yeah, that must’ve been nice after you had to talk with your father about her.”
Wait. Adrien had triple-checked the news yesterday, this morning, and 10 minutes ago, and nothing had mentioned his meeting with his father. But perhaps it was just something Marinette assumed would happen, and it did. A lucky guess ice-breaker.
“Some of it was probably because of Lila, though. Maybe Monsieur Agreste can see through her lies too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ended the call so abruptly.”
The video call? Ladybug would’ve never told a civilian about that, not because it was confidential, but it was so minute that Adrien had already forgotten about it. It was so obscure, not to mention the tiny time window Ladybug would've even had to tell Marinette this if she wanted to. And this one was definitely not a lucky guess.
“Adrien? Are you okay?” Marinette flexed her fingers in Adrien’s loosening grasp.
Adrien could respect how Marinette kept the conversation’s steam going. But he couldn’t bring himself to do the same, because this was getting weird. Too weird. Was he missing something?
“Hello, Marinette. Congratulations on your relationship with Adrien.”
The air froze. Nathalie stopped by them at the top of the staircase.
“I heard you in Mr. Agreste’s studio yesterday. You must have won his approval,” she commented with an impassive nod.
Adrien’s head turned like it was on a conveyor belt.
Nathalie promptly left, bidding them farewell with a mutter about a new Gabriel event coming up. For the first time, Marinette longed for her to stay even a moment longer, to be able to look at something other than her boyfriend’s grinning face. She spent a bit of time looking around, fascinated that there were stairs on a staircase, but soon found it easier to just bury her face in her palms.
“Something you want to tell the class, Marinette?”
She peeked through her hands. “If I told the class, I’d be out of a job,” she grumbled.
Adrien sighed airily, as if he hadn’t learnt the biggest news of his life. “And I’d be out of a girlfriend. Everyone would be looking to chase you .”
He was so bad at hiding his smile. Fine, two could do that.
“Maybe I can get Chat Noir or something to be my fake boyfriend.”
The scoff was crisp in the thawing atmosphere. “Too bad for him, that spot is reserved.”
She bit back her laugh. “Are you jealous?”
He crossed his arms. “Maybe a bit. I’m only learning that the love of my life is one of my best friends and she wants to chase some boy in a catsuit .”
However bitter the comment could have been, it was deeply overshadowed by the amused, lilting tone of his.
“Come on, I’ll still carry you over buildings and fences. I can throw you too if you like.”
She shouldered him playfully, causing him to trip down the stairs. Just as he was falling, she caught him by his wrist.
“I’m terribly sorry, Marinette,” he said woefully, “ that’s reserved for Ladybug. My girlfriend.”
“Must be a nice girl,” she said, pulling him in for a kiss.