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volpinarena · 3 years

Text

Words Unspoken

Chapters - 1/?

Updates every Sunday

Chapter One

Word count - 2,782

Uploaded - 4/18/2021

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Marinette flopped on her bed with a heavy sigh. The dress she had been working on for months was finally finished. And her hard work seemed to have paid off, or at least she hoped it did.

"Marinette!" A voice squeaked, causing the girl to sit up.

"What's wrong Tikki?" She questioned, but quickly realized what the kwami was going to say before she said it. Alya, Nino and possibly Adrien were coming over to collect her for a trip to the movies and she could hear their footsteps coming up the stairs. They couldn't see this dress, it was supposed to be for Ladybug to wear to the upcoming Hero's Day Masquerade Ball. She scrambled to her feet, rushing over to the mannequin, but of course she tripped and slammed right into it just as the hatch to her room opened up.

As Alya and Nino poked their heads into her room, they were greeting with the sight of Marinette struggling to hold the mannequin the dress upright.

Alya held back a snort. "Girl, why is it every time I come up here you're in some kind of mess?" She questioned, helping Marinette right the mannequin and get to her feet.

"Don't rag on her Alya, she's lucky Adrien isn't here to see it." Nino teased, slinging his shoulder around Marinette with a grin. "Whose this for anyway dude? I didn't think you had time to go to the hero's day party because you promised to babysit Nadja's kid so she could go."

Marinette stiffened, mind racing trying to find an answer to his question. How could she explain without revealing her identity? She opened her mouth, fumbling over her words before Alya cut her off. "Obviously it's for Ladybug!" She announced, grinning at Marinette. "Am I right? Did Ladybug really commission you to make her dress for the ball?"

Marinette swallowed hard, barely having time to process what just happened, let alone the fact that Adrien would not be joining them. Nodding her head, Marinette finally found her words, "Yup. . .haha that's exactly what happened! Ladybug asked me to make her a dress for the ball after seeing my work at Gabriel Agreste's hat competition!", She managed to squeak out, praying that it sounded normal enough. Her two friends seemed to buy it, Nino giving her a thumbs up and Alya taking in every detail of the black dress.

It was a knee length, black, slightly glittery, dress with red and gold frills at the bottom. Simple and sweet, something that wasn't too eye-catching but also showed regality and poise. Sitting on the dresser next to it was the mask, intricately designed with red blacks and golds, large enough to cover the majority of the upper half of one's face but not enough to fully distort the look.

"This is gorgeous! And I thought the dress you made me was stunning!" Alya turned away from the dress, grabbing Marinette's hand and pulling her out of the room. "Come on then it looks like you could use a break. It's movie time!" She declared triumphantly, pulling her best friend and her boyfriend out the front door of the bakery.

---

When Marinette got home later that evening, she found her parents were gone. They left her a note explaining they went out for dinner together like they had planned earlier that day. She headed up to her room, enjoying the peace and quiet.

The girl settled into her desk chair, beginning to sketch out a few more designs. She sat content for what seemed like hours before a knock on her balcony window was heard. Marinette glanced over, rolling her eyes as a certain leather clad cat hero grinned cheekily at her. She set her pen down and headed to the balcony, opening the window and crawling out.

"What brings you here today, purrincess?" Chat said, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"I live here Chat, why are you here?" She threw the question right back at him, a fierce blush on her face as he stepped closer, pressing his nose to hers.

"To see you of course. . ." He drawled flirtatiously causing Marinette to push him back.

"Stop that." She muttered, trying to hold her ground, but it seemed impossible whenever Chat Noir was around. She practically melted in his paws anytime he came near and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why.

Chat frowned, and moved to the edge of the balcony, leaning over it. He didn't comment on her actions, instead completely changing the subject. "The Hero's Day party, er ball? I guess? Is coming up next weekend, are you going?"

Marinette bit her lip. Technically she was going, and the want to spill everything to her partner welled up in her throat. She couldn't. Her story had to be kept straight with everyone, even if it was a lie. She wasn't really going to be watching Manon for Nadja, she just couldn't be Marinette and Ladybug at the same time. "No. I'm not going, I've got obligations that day I have to see to." She stated as firmly as she could, trying not to flinch as he looked back at her, his bright green eyes a softer color in the fading sun.

"That's ok, I won't be going either, I'll be wrapped up in other things. I feel bad for letting Ladybug down, but my civilian life is a bit more hectic than I'd like. . ." He muttered, but said nothing more on the subject. "I saw that dress through your window, if you aren't going, whose it for?"

She blinked for a moment, finally realizing what he was asking. "Oh. . .it's for Ladybug. She asked me to design her dress for the ball. . ." She tried acting as sheepish as she could, hoping it would hide her nervousness about the situation at hand. Much to her surprise, Chat didn't seem to notice anything off about her behavior.

"It's gorgeous. I knew you were talented but I didn't know you were already at a professional level! You could be a bigger success than fa- Gabriel Agreste!" He beamed at her, motioning for her to join him at the railing. "Why don't you apply for an internship there? I heard he's got a spot open."

The thought of being one of Gabriel Agreste's interns made her stomach churn, not only because then she'd see Adrien more regularly but because Gabriel wasn't the nicest man to his son, and that didn't seem to prove him to be a good boss. "I dunno, I'm not sure working under Mr.Agreste would suit me, his son - Adrien - isn’t treated the greatest by him and I'm not sure I could just stand back and let that happen."

Chat's expression turned a bit dark, but quickly brightened again. He changed the subject once more, holding his hand out to Marinette. "Since we both can't go to the ball. . .why don't we dance now, together?"

Marinette hesitated for just a moment before gently taking his hand. "I guess it couldn't hurt." Her voice was soft as Chat gently pulled her against him, a grin on his face.

The two gently swayed to the setting sun, making idle conversation here and there about various things, heavily avoiding the topic of the Hero's Day party coming up. What seemed like hours of gentle silence passed between them, that is until Chat Noir gave Marinette a twirl causing her to giggle. She pressed her hands to his chest to steady herself, looking up at the black clad hero. "It's getting late, I better head home before it's too dark."

His voice was soft, like honey, as he spoke to her, and she found herself drawn in, whether it be from the moment they shared dancing or because she was slowly falling for this cat's charms, she didn't know.. Marinette frowned, opening her mouth to protest but no words came out because at that moment Chat was in front of her, one hand under her chin, the other wrapped around her waist. He kissed her, gentle as ever, as if he were afraid she might break. Marinette's eyes widened but she didn't fight it. Most of her didn't want to fight it, but a small part of her was screaming, yelling that her heart belonged to Adrien, and Adrien only, and yet somehow this felt. . .right in a way that she'd never felt before.

Marinette leaned into the kiss, but it was seemingly over as quickly as it started. "I better get going." Chat mumbled, looking away and readying his baton. "I'll see you later, Marinette."

----

The next day at school was agonizing for Marinette. Between Alya showing off the pictures of the dress of Ladybug she had gotten this morning when she picked Marinette up so they could walk to school together, to Adrien giving her odd looks and asking vague questions about Chat Noir of all people, she hadn't gotten a break all day. And to top it all off, she and Chat Noir had just finished taking out a particularly nasty akuma.

She swung her yoyo, letting it clasp the akuma inside it. "Bye bye, little butterfly" she muttered as the tiny, white insect flew off. She picked up the baseball bat that had been used as her lucky charm and threw it into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

With one shout, the city was fixed, and everything was back where it belonged. Ladybug sighed in relief, turning to face her partner. "Thanks for your help, Chat, but I have to get going." She held out her fist, a friendly smile on her face.

"Pound it!" They said in unison, before Ladybug swung off, disappearing into the Paris skyline.

Marinette ducked behind an alleyway near their school, detransforming and feeding Tikki before heading back inside.

Most of the class had made it back after the confusion of the attack, and things resumed normally once more. Marinette zoned out as Ms.Bustier began to teach again, her head far away, drifting off into thoughts about Chat Noir, and how gently he said her name, how much love had been laced in every syllable. Marinette. . .marinette. . ."Marinette!"

Marinette flinched as she realized whoever was saying her name was not in her head at all. She glanced around, blushing heavily when it was Adrien she noticed, looking concerned. "Marinette, are you alright? We've been trying to talk to you for 10 minutes."

Alya faked a cough, trying to cover up her laugh to no avail. "I told you not to worry about her, she's daydreaming about who knows what, maybe about a certain local cat hero? Hmm?" The girl teased, throwing a wink Marinette's way.

"What are you talking about?! I don't day dream about Chat Noir!" She squeaked out, face turning cherry red.

"Maybe not before, but certainly after last night you will be." Alya cooed, glancing at the two boys sitting in front them and then directing her gaze back to Marinette.

"Nothing happened last time!"

"That's not what Nino and I were told."

Marinette opened her mouth, as if to object but Adrien spoke for her. "I saw him on your balcony last night. I finished a photoshoot late and happened to pass by. I was going to have the Gorilla stop so we could get some croissants. . " he rubbed the back of his neck, looking a bit embarrassed, "Well I didn't want to interrupt you."

A few small noises came from Marinette's mouth, sounding like whimpers. What the hell had she gotten herself into? Adrien, of all people, was the last entity on earth she wanted to have seen that. The girl slammed her head into the table, letting out a groan. "Can we not talk about it? It's bad enough it happened."

"Wait, why is it bad it happened? Dude, you kissed one of the heros of Paris! That makes you famous by default!" Nino interjected, getting a glare from Alya. He shrunk in his chair, avoiding eye contact.

Marinette practically jumped from her seat, picking up her bag. "I gotta go, promised mom I'd help in the bakery during lunch!" She rattled off her excuse, dashing out the door.

"Doesn't she know schools out for the day? Lunch was two hours ago. . ." Alya wondered aloud, following her best friend out the door.

Adrien watched as the two girls left unsure of what had caused the sudden shift in mood. Sure he had told a little lie about seeing Marinette with Chat Noir, but he wanted to see if she'd elaborate on her feelings for him, ultimately his plan failed, miserably.

The boy stood up from his chair, giving Nino a quick wave before heading out. His mind was whirling, thoughts about Marinette were stuck at the forefront. His feelings for her had manifested through Chat Noir last night, and whether that was a good thing, or a bad thing, he couldn't quite tell. He knew how he felt about her - or at least he thought he did - but what was he supposed to do about his feelings for Ladybug? Could you be in love with two people at the same time, was what he felt about Marinette even really love, or was it just his longing for Ladybug manifesting itself as feelings for the person who reminded him the most of her. Marinette was the 'everyday ladybug' of Paris, he had said so himself.

Adrien put his hand to his head. His brain hurt, what did he know about the concept of love anyway? After his mother vanished his father showed nothing but coldness towards everyone around him, and even before then the only love Adrien himself got was from his mother, and he knew that just wasn't the same.

He was jerked from his thoughts when the car door suddenly opened. He was home. Exiting the vehicle, Adrien practically bolted up to his room, opening up his bag and letting Plagg out.

The black kwami grumbled, heading for the nearest stash of cheese. "What's got you in such a mood? Upset your girlfriend didn't respond well to you bringing up personal information?" Plagg teased, shoving a whole square of camembert in his mouth.

"Shut up Plagg. What do you even know about how she feels?" Adrien made his way to the window, glancing back at his kwami, "Hell, what do you even know about love? From what I can tell you know nothing." He huffed, echoing a sentiment he had spoken a few years prior to Plagg. It seemed as if he couldn't get anything through his thick skull.

"Whatever, kid. All I know is that if you keep going through things this way, you're going to end up hurt."

---

Across town, Marinette sat on her bed, head buried in Alya's chest. Alya couldn't tell what was running through her friend's head, but she'd be there for her none-the-less. "Mari, girl, what are you upset about? I know it's rough having Adrien see what happened, but. . .have you ever considered maybe, just maybe you're, I dunno, moving on?"

A sob wracked Marinette's body, and Alya let out a heavy sigh. "I just think that this might be a good thing, y'know. . . ?" Things fell quiet for a while, Marinette being comforted by her friends embrace.

"I don't understand, Alya, I never in a million years thought I'd be kissing Chat Noir of all people." Alya blinked as Marinette spoke up, looking down at the girl nestled in her arms.

She kept quiet, waiting for her to speak more. "I thought I loved Adrien, we were going to get married and have three kids and a hamster and -" she cut herself off, lifting her head up. "And it isn't going to happen, is it?"

She looked like a wounded puppy, and it made Alya's heart break. What was she supposed to say, that they all knew it might not ever work? That Adrien didn't seem interested, even these few years later? She couldn't do that to Marinette, not with the state she seemed to be in. "I wouldn't say it won't happen, but in all honesty Marinette, you moving on from him, it's not a bad thing. I'll be here for you, whatever you choose to do, and you don't have to make up your mind right away. . . Things change, but that doesn't mean you have to change just as quickly." she gently began to rub the back of Marinette's head, the two falling into a soft silence.

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