Stitches • Marichat

Chapter Twenty One

As it turns out, 'tomorrow' turned to a week later, and then that turned into several weeks later. His father was serious when he had told Adrien that his workload would be doubled. As punishment for buying the tickets without his father's permission, and then going to the show regardless of his warning, Adrien had missed several days at school, not to mention several opportunities to hang out with his friends. In fact, his punishment had grown worse after he missed a photoshoot one week prior, trying to save the day and all with Ladybug.

A Ladybug who may or may not be Marinette.

It was exhausting. Not only was he dealing with the extreme amount of photoshoots and interviews, his mind was always occupied by a certain pigtailed girl. It was kinda hard to answer questions in an interview when you're distracted by the love of your life. He was certain that he had nearly blurted out Ladybug's and Marinette's names several times.

However, he had made it through the grueling few weeks, and now he had a free night, the first in a long time. He thought about swinging by Marinette's room for a few hours, after not seeing her as Chat Noir -maybe, depending on the whole Ladybug-Marinette thing- for almost two weeks, but she told him that she had some plans for the night.

So all that was left was patrol, but even that had to wait until school was let out. Adrien patiently, or as patiently as he could, watched the minute hand on the clock slowly tick by. He was currently in art history -a class his father signed him up for- and not a single one of his friends was in it with him. He did have to admit that there were some perks to the class, though. He got the opportunity to learn about different painting techniques and pencil strokes that he was certain Marinette would appreciate.

Maybe for her next birthday, he'll draw her something?

Adrien decided to pocket that idea for later, before he started thinking about what Marinette would get him for his birthday, which was coming up in a few weeks.

Distracted by his thoughts, the bell rang, signalling the end of school. Adrien was one of the first students out the door, walking to his locker as fast as he could without being suspiciously speedy. He still had to keep up a calm and collected appearance, after all. Chat Noir was for him to get all his jittery energy out without risking his father's precious reputation.

Putting his useless textbooks in his locker, Adrien said a quick goodbye to Nino, who was preoccupied by his not-girlfriend (totally his girlfriend) Alya. He barely got a response back from either of his friends, both to engrossed in their heated debate over which Jagged Stone song was the best. Adrien shrugged, shouldering his bag before heading to the front doors.

That's when the disappointment hit him real hard.

Might need to scratch out those plans for patrol... Adrien thought to himself, not even snickering at his own pun. He felt Plagg shift in his pocket, as if the miniature god could sense what Adrien was seeing. The rain poured outside, loudly pattering against the cement. How could he have not noticed this during class? The room's walls are essentially just windows, because apparently natural sunlight helps make the students feel more awake -which going off of Marinette and him after a late night akuma or patrols, didn't really work- he should have realized it was raining. But he was too busy watching the clock until class was over.

Some students walked by with umbrellas, others with their bags over their heads, leaving to go home. A few people from his class waved goodbye before eventually it was just him on the steps.

Adrien sighed, rubbing his forehead as he waited for the Gorilla to arrive at school. Ever since the incident where he had accidentally gotten Gorilla akumatized, the guard would be the tiniest -fifteen minutes at most- late when it didn't matter. And then Ladybug came crashing into his thoughts, just like she came crashing into his life. Hard and painfully.
Plagg popped out of the shirt pocket he had been hiding in.

"Plagg, what's wrong with me?"

"Kid, I don't think anyone know the answer to that riddle." Adrien glared at the snickering kwami. After a few moments, Plagg finally sobered up, zipping up to Adrien's neck, covered by his hair so he could be warm and partially safe from the water that fell from the sky. The blond looked up at the gray sky, silently wondering when Gorilla would finally get here. He was relaxed with the feeling of Plagg curled up on the curve of his neck, knowing that this was the cat-themed god's way of comforting his Chosen.

Suddenly, the murky gray of the cloudy sky was blocked by darkness. Adrien jerked in surprise, hissing as he felt a cool metal press against the skin of his forearm. Behind him, he heard a delightful giggle, quietly muffled by what Adrien would presume was the giggler's hand.
Marinette leaned in next to him, her dark hair tickling the exposed skin on his neck. Plagg shifted before disappearing into his shirt, hiding away in his secret pocket. Adrien's throat bobbed as Marinette leered closer to him, the scent of vanilla and freshly baked bread covering his senses.

If Marinette noticed, she sure didn't act like it. Her arm wrapped around his shoulder, her chest pressed firmly to his back. Anyone walking by would simply think that Marinette was hugging him from behind. Adrien felt the heat crawling up his neck to the very tips of his ears; Marinette's lips lightly danced along his sensitive skin. Quietly, Adrien heard her whisper; something that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Her lips ghostly traced the words, causing Adrien to shiver.

"I heard somewhere that cats don't like the rain."

Adrien tensed as the, not particularly new, but shocking information was said. It took him a second for the words to sink in before he fully comprehended the meaning behind the message. Marinette withdrew her arms, leaving the plain black umbrella over the blond's head. Adrien started turning to Marinette to see if his suspicions were correct, maybe question her on how she figured it out, but was interrupted by Alya.

"Hey girl! Are we going to finish this project at your house or not?" Alya walked down the stairs, her ladybug printed umbrella ("I can't believe you have that." "You better. As the official Ladyblogger, you best believe I'm gonna represent.") hanging over her head, protecting her from the cold droplets of water. Adrien watched as Marinette turned to her best friend, yelling back an answer before turning back to the model. Placing the umbrella's grip in his hand, Marinette leaned in to whisper in his burning ear.

"I'll cat-ch you later, chaton." Adrien's hands trembled as she spoke to him in the sultry tone, the weight of her meaning hitting him hard. Adrien watched wordlessly, his mind unable to come up with anything feasible enough to say. Marinette winked at him before turning around to meet up with Alya, who ended up sharing her spotted umbrella with her best friend.

Plagg snickered in his pocket as the Gorilla pulled up in the sleek silver car.

"Man, did she get you good!" The little kwami continued to laugh, clutching his stomach as Adrien kept an eye on Marinette and Alya, watching the two until the bright red and black spotted umbrella disappeared around the corner. He couldn't help but think about how good Marinette looked in those spots. "I always thought she'd be the first to find out!" Plagg howled.

A sudden thought struck Adrien. Marinette was Ladybug. The entire time, when Adrien was staring at Ladybug's figure, which was covered by the spotted get-up which left little to the imagination, he was staring at Marinette's. His face went up in flames, a color rivalling the same suit he had been thinking about. This action only proved to egg Plagg on as the volume of the cat-themed god's laughter increased.

"Shut up, Plagg! It's not even that funny." Plagg wheezed as his laughter died down, a few hiccups here and there as he tried to calm himself down enough that they could get home. A cold and dry home. On second thought, he should take as much time here as he can.

Adrien ended up not giving the god a choice as he jogged through the cold rain into the car, successfully silencing Plagg.

Throughout the silent ride, Adrien's thoughts wandered over to Maribug (It's a clever nickname, regardless of what Plagg says.).
Three things were clear to him: one, Marinette and Ladybug were one in the same. Two, he most definitely loved her more for that. And three, he was totally going to be 'cat-ching' her later that night.

What did you guys think about the 'reveal' I told you guys about? Not a full one yet, but we are getting there!

Let me know what you think!

Until next time, peace!