Venom: A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Marinette-Chapter 1

            Coming home to Paris felt like a breath of fresh air after being in London all semester. Marinette still couldn't believe that she had nearly finished college and would be graduating from the London College of Fashion in the spring. The whole thing felt a little surreal.

Leaning back in her seat, she propped her feet up on the seat across from her, using her knee as a table so she could sketch her latest designs. A long, shimmery red dress took shape under her hand as she fiddled with the neckline. Tapping her pencil against her lips, she sketched in a one shoulder neckline with a length of fabric flowing off the back. Perfect. This was the design she would present to secure her internship for next semester.

She longed to get to her sewing machine and make this dress come to life. She hoped it would be good enough to catch the eye of a famous designer at Paris fashion week. She had taken off for home right after finals, hoping that two weeks would be enough time to create the dress and find someone to wear it.

She sighed, staring out of the window at the darkness. If she was honest with herself, the excitement she felt about going home was only partly because of fashion week. Going home meant seeing Adrien for the first time in nearly a year. As much as she had tried to will her stubborn heart to leave him behind when they went their separate ways for college three years ago, she hadn't quite managed it. They had kept in touch, but it felt different now that they weren't even in the same country for three-quarters of the year. She'd even heard rumors that he was dating someone, but she didn't know if there was any truth to it. One thing was for sure, Adrien only saw her as a friend.

"What's with the face, Marinette?" Tikki's high voice asked softly from the purse in her lap. "You look sad."

Shrugging, Marinette gave her kwami a small smile. Even when no one else was there for her, she could always count on her kwami. There hadn't been much call for superheroes lately, Hawk Moth had vanished a long time ago. But Marinette had always felt sure as bones and deep as blood that he was still out there, waiting.

"Nothing," she replied, tickling the top of Tikki's head. "Just thinking."

"About Adrien?" her kwami said a little too knowingly. Marinette's cheeks burned hot at Tikki's astute assessment and she fumbled for an answer.

"Yes...I mean no! I mean...what were we talking about?"

Tikki giggled. "Come on, you always look that way when you think about him lately."

"I just miss him," Marinette sighed, closing her sketch pad and slipping it into her bag. "I knew going to different colleges would be hard, I just didn't know how hard."

Nodding, Tikki gave Marinette's finger an encouraging squeeze. "You two talked for almost two hours last time you called. He'll be so happy you're home. You'll see."

"I hope you're right, Tikki," Marinette smiled, her heart lifting a little. "And hopefully I'll be staying in Paris for my internship so I'll see him more often."

Tikki nodded sagely. "Absolutely. It will all work out. You'll see."

Marinette settled back in her seat again, doodling idly on the edge of her page. The train rocked gently and soon her eyelids began to drop. Her pen gradually stilled and her eyes closed as she drifted off.

The Eiffel Tower always looked the most beautiful at night. Marinette stood on top of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées watching the lights twinkle in the darkness.

"Good to see you m'lady. It's been a while."

Marinette jumped so badly she nearly dropped her yoyo. Turning, she saw a familiar pair of glowing green eyes watching her amusedly in the darkness behind her.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Chat," she scolded, trying to calm her racing pulse. Chat Noir just smirked and leaped to her side.

"Sorry, I just couldn't believe you were really here. I thought if I moved, you'd vanish."

Marinette's lips quirked up slightly. "Is that your way of saying you missed me?"

"I guess it is," Chat Noir shrugged. "I mean, you did leave me."

Shaking her head, Marinette gazed sadly back out at the Seine. "It wasn't you I left behind. I'm sorry you felt that way, it was because of something else."

"Something?" Chat shot her a questioning glance. "Or someone?"

Marinette sighed. "Does it matter? I couldn't stay in Paris. I felt trapped here without—"

She stopped herself before saying Adrien's name, fearing she had already revealed too much. The day of high school graduation, she had made up her mind to tell Adrien the truth about how she felt. But her resolve had crumbled when she saw Aimee, another girl in their class, kiss him. All she had managed was a hug and a promise to keep in touch.

"Adrien?" Chat finished her thought. Marinette's heart thumped hard. How had he known?

"You didn't need to run," Chat continued when her silence confirmed his guess. "He's a lot closer than you think, Marinette. And he misses you too..."

The lurch of the train pulling into the station jerked Marinette out of her dream with a bump. She looked around wildly, but Chat Noir wasn't there. She hadn't seen him for years. There was no way he could know the real reason she had gone to school in London.

Shaking her head to clear the last clinging memories of the dream away, Marinette grabbed her bag and moved toward the door. She stepped off the train, but before she could get very far, her foot caught on the edge of the platform and she went sprawling.

"Woah, easy there."

A pair of strong, steady hands reached out and grabbed her upper arm to keep her from falling face first on the platform.

"I gotcha."

Marinette looked up, her heart thumping harder than ever when she realized that Adrien was the one who had rescued her from her fall. She felt her cheeks heating up slightly but she couldn't decide if it was her clumsiness or Adrien's nearness that had brought the blush on.

"Good to see you, Mari," Adrien smiled, taking her suitcase from her and holding onto her arm, probably to keep her from falling again. "How was London?"

"Great," Marinette managed, her chest suddenly felt uncomfortably tight. "But it's good to be home."

Adrien glanced at her, something Marinette couldn't quite read showing briefly in his eyes. But it was gone before Marinette could analyze it any further.

"Yeah, it's good to have you home," he replied, letting go of her arm and starting up the steps. When Marinette stayed rooted to the spot at the bottom of the stairs, Adrien turned back and offered her another one of his signature grins that made her heart feel like hot butter sliding down warm toast. Oh man, she was in big trouble...

"Come on. Your parents are waiting for you inside."