ok but imagine:
Chat Noir beginning to suspect his Lady’s identity through frequent visits to Marinette’s balcony
She gives him delicious baked goods, blankets when he accidentally ends up sleeping over, an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and eventually (she swears she’s only doing it to shut him up) gentle fingers to scratch at the spot behind his ears that makes him slump into a pile of blissful goo.
And by observing her, her infectious smile, the freckles lightly dusting the bridge of her nose, the midnight hair framing those impossibly familiar blue eyes…Chat’s resolve crumbles.
She’s too much like her, like his Lady, for it to be anyone else. Her voice – so clear and confident, her bravery when standing up to Chloe’s bullying, her sharp wit that only seems to come out when he’s facing her behind the guise of an alley cat…
Not to mention he catches a glimpse of a small red thing flitting around her head every now and then, and with his enhanced hearing, can hear it talking to her.
Marinette’s a miraculous holder, and Adrien’s in love.
But he’s not sure if she feels the same way…on either side of the mask. And it scares him. Ladybug simply rolls her eyes at Chat’s advances, and Adrien seems to make Marinette rather uncomfortable.
He’s lost his mother, his father’s never there for him, and he can’t lose his best friend and first love, too.
So he dials back on visits to his princess, not only to protect himself from rejection but also so that he can’t kiss her like he desperately wants to; he stops kissing Ladybug’s hand in greeting, and keeps his distance.
His friendship with her is one of the most precious things life’s ever given him, and he refuses to let his love for her get in the way of ruining it.
Till a particularly rainy day arrives, and Adrien finds himself unable to stop the tide pulling him ever closer to her.
Chloe’s talking about Chat Noir, and he snaps out of his mid-afternoon daze.
“I personally don’t see why Ladybug needs him. She’s quite capable of saving the city without him. All he does is get in her way,” she remarks absently, inspecting her perfect manicure, Sabrina nodding in agreement.
Something in Adrien deflates, and he pretends he hadn’t heard that.
“He doesn’t deserve to be called a hero, remember that time he completely destroyed my room-”
“Don’t you dare say that about him.”
Everyone listening looks over in shock, and Marinette’s standing with Alya in the doorway, brows furrowed in a way that makes her the spitting image of Ladybug facing an akuma.
Adrien’s heart is beating so fast he wonders whether it’s going to stop any minute. He can’t look away or pretend he isn’t listening anymore.
Chloe smirks and opens her mouth to retort, but his Lady cuts her off once again.
“He’s loyal to Ladybug, and he’s unbelievably kind. He’s devoted to saving Paris just as much as she is, and without him on her side, she wouldn’t be here today!”
If Adrien’s blush could get any redder, it’d be worse than Nathanael’s hair right about now.
“He’s just as important and heroic as she is, and he deserves every good thing in the world. So don’t talk crap about people you barely know, or about people who do a heck of a lot more for the world than you do!”
Chloe’s stunned at the girl’s ferocious defense of the black cat, but she sneers even though she’s cornered. “It sounds like you have a bit of a crush on him, Marinette. Careful, wouldn’t want a dirty street cat like him to hear. He’s nobody’s hero. He hasn’t even been seen in some time.”
Marinette fixes her with a glare, but her voice softens. “He’s my hero,” she says simply. “And I’m willing to bet there are many others who’d say the same. He’s my hero, he’s Ladybug’s hero, and he’s…he’s someone I miss very much right now.” Her voice seems to break then, and she turns on her heel to walk out the door, leaving Chloe and the others gaping after her.
Adrien is utterly floored. Completely, irreversibly floored, and he can’t muster any coherent thought except to find Marinette as soon as possible.
His head is buzzing. Marinette…Ladybug, she’s missed him. Missed him while he tried to give her space and keep his distance, when all she’d wanted was for him to be right next to her.
She’d sounded so passionate and sincere when she defended him that perhaps, perhaps she might love him, too.
It’s still raining when evening arrives, and she finds her drenched kitty shivering on her balcony, after such a long time.
It’s still raining when he presses his lips to hers right then and there, and she lets him kiss her the way he’s wanted to for so, so long. She’s warm and sweet and strong against him, and they melt into each other.
It’s still raining when they reluctantly break apart, Marinette pressed up against him, drenched from head to toe just like he is, chests heaving and cheeks flushing.
His miraculous beeps a warning-Plagg hates the rain- and he moves away to hide his face as he detransforms. What if he, Adrien, isn’t enough?
She cups his cheeks and meets his gaze. “Minou, I’ll love you no matter who you are underneath that mask. Please, please don’t go away again,” she implores, as if she’d read his thoughts.
He doesn’t deny her, knows that he can’t ever deny her anything, and he breathes out a promise.
“I won’t, my lady. Never again.”