Adrien
She was pacing the floor when he finally managed to get away from his father, it had started sprinkling, so he decided against the skylight. He tapped on the window, and she quickly opened it.
"Hey princess. You okay?"
She stepped aside to let him in, and he climbed through, sitting down on the windowsill.
"I kissed him."
So she had lied to Adrien. They weren't okay. She was obviously upset.
"Uh... who?"
"Adrien."
Her eyes were misting over, and he held back a frown. Why was she crying?
"You did?"
What else was he supposed to say? He wasn't jealous. She had kissed him. Though, she didn't know that.
"I'm sorry."
Her voice wavered, and he suddenly realized why she was acting like this. She felt guilty.
"Marinette, take a deep breath. Why are you so upset?"
"I cheated on you."
He grinned at that, pulling her closer. Her loyalty was remarkable. He had expected her to not tell Chat, but this was a time he would welcome being wrong.
"Technically, Marinette, you didn't cheat on me. No where in the rules did it say we were exclusive. Also, we aren't dating. Yet."
She squinted at him, sighing softly. She looked a little suspicious, and she whispered.
"Are... Are you seeing someone else?"
"No. No, Marinette, just you. But, if you want to be exclusive, I wouldn't mind. Have you kissed anyone other than Adrien?"
She shook her head, and he nodded. Thank God.
"Okay. What do you say Marinette? You want to be my one and only?"
She stared at him for a moment, and he wondered what she was thinking.
"I think I do. You wanna be my one and only?"
He grinned, pulling her against him. How could he not?
"Definitely."
He gave her a quick kiss, before standing up and closing the window.
"So, do you want me to kick his ass?"
She snickered in response, shaking her head.
"No, he didn't know I was with someone."
He smiled at the thought, kissing the top of her nose.
"Well, I'm glad we-"
"Marinette!"
Alya's scream cut him off, and Marinette's face drained of color.
"Hide."
"What? Where?"
She grabbed him, looking around the room. He was suprised at her strength as she drug him across the room, to the closet.
"You've got to be joking."
"It's just for a little while kitty."
She shoved him in the closet, slamming the door. He crossed his arms, looking around in the dark. Some of the light from her bedroom seeped in from under the door, and he could read some of the labels on the hat boxes. He did a double take at one of them. It had his name on it. Well, not Chat, but Adrien. He leaned forward, opening the box. The magazine clippings she used to have on her wall were in there, as well as the lucky Charm he had given her for her birthday a long time ago. He still had his, he kept it in his pocket most days. Why was hers in the closet? He noticed something else, standing up in the corner of the closet. His umbrella. She still had it? He jumped when he heard the latch swing open, and he gently put the lid back on the box. Marinette would kill him if she found him snooping. He moved over to the door, listening quietly.
"I can not believe you!"
"Keep your voice down Alya."
Marinette snapped, and he heard the trap door shut.
"You're the one seeing Chat Noir? And you didn't tell me?"
"It's not like that."
There was a long pause on the other side, and he pressed his ear to the door.
"There's water under your window."
"I-I accidentally left it open."
"There's literally footprints leading from the window."
He shook his head, they should have known Alya would see that.
"Why are you blocking the closet Marinette?"
"I-I'm not!"
He glanced around, there was no where for him to hide in here. It was crammed with too many boxes.
"Step aside Marinette, or I'll call your dad to come check your closet."
Oh God, please don't. Tom would kill him.
"Alya please."
He heard movement outside of the door, and he flinched when it was yanked open.
"Hi, Alya. How've you been?"
"Well well, look what the cat dragged in."
She had her arms crossed over her chest, her tone incredibly sarcastic. He made a face, and Alya whirled around to Marinette.
"I can't believe this. I thought we were bestfriends. Bestfriends are supposed to tell each other everything."
"We are bestfriends."
Marinette whined, and Alya moved out of the doorway, so he could get by. He did so gladly, stepping out into the room.
"Is this how you got over Adrien so quickly? Because you moved on to Chat Noir?"
"Alya!"
Marinette snapped, and he felt like the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. 'Got over Adrien'? She was getting over Adrien? No. There's no way, it couldn't be true. Marinette wasn't in love with him.
"Adrien? Agreste? The model?"
"You didn't tell him about Adrien?"
Alya asked, her voice getting quieter, as if she was worried she had just thrown Marinette under the bus.
"You're in love with Adrien?"
"No. I was, in love with Adrien. I thought you knew."
She snapped, and he shook his head. How the hell was he supposed to know that? That didn't make any sense.
"Everyone knew. Except Adrien."
Alya looked at him, and he frowned. How come no one had told him? How come she hadn't told him?
"Why didn't you tell him?"
Marinette ignored him, turning to Alya.
"Chat and I are just friends."
"You don't hide friends in your closet Marinette."
The two started arguing, but he couldn't focus on the conversation. How could he have missed that? Things that felt out of place suddenly started making sense. Her stuttering, how tense she was. The secretive glances between literally everyone when they were near each other. Why she got so mad at Lila. Why she seemed upset all those years ago when he told her that he was in love with someone. How did he not notice it? He looked at her, she was still arguing with Alya. No fucking wonder she was so upset earlier. She kissed Adrien, who she was trying to get over. Did she not like him anymore?
"Fine. I won't tell anyone. But if you're just friends, why didn't you tell me?"
"I asked her not to. If anyone found out that she and I were friends, it would make her a target."
He said quickly, he had thought of that lie earlier, in case Alya did find out. Marinette had wanted both sides of him. She loved Adrien, and she was falling for Chat. He had never found someone that wanted both sides. She was perfect. Alya was quiet, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry Alya. Please don't be mad at me."
Alya sighed, looking between the two of them.
"Now I have to tell everyone at school that my lead was a bust. But, as payment for my silence, I want an interview with Chat Noir."
He shrugged, sitting down in Marinette's desk chair. He didn't mind doing an interview.
"How about tomorrow afternoon, here?"
"Can't. I have a party to be at."
"A party?"
Marinette questioned, and Alya grinned.
"Yep. Kim's parents aren't in town, so he's having a party tomorrow night. The whole class is gonna be there. So, tomorrow night, you, me and maybe tomcat too."
He leaned back, looking at the ceiling. He wanted Alya to leave. He needed to talk to Marinette alone. How could she have loved Adrien all this time?
"Maybe."
Marinette murmered and Alya shook her head.
"Nope. You're going. Chat is giving me an interview, and you're going to a party with me."
"Blackmail? Seriously?"
Marinette sounded annoyed, and Alya frowned at her.
"We hardly spend time together. I miss you."
The annoyance disappeared from her face, replaced by guilt.
"I'm sorry Alya."
"I'm not blaming you for being busy. I just want us to be close again. Like we used to be. I'll pick you up tomorrow around eight."
She gave Marinette a tight hug, before turning to Chat.
"Sunday, I'll expect an interview."
He nodded, and she went down through the trapdoor. Marinette was quiet, and he looked at her.
"So, back to Adrien."
She rolled her eyes, plopping down in her other chair.
"I really want to know. Did you ever tell him?"
"I tried. None of it really panned out."
Her tone was cool, and he was annoyed by it. Why was she so against talking about it?
"It wouldn't have mattered. He loved someone else anyway."
He leaned back in his chair, looking at the ground. It would have mattered. To him. He would have cared.
"And you kissed him today. Did you feel anything?"
Her face flushed, and she glared at him.
"Excuse me?"
"When you kissed him, did you feel anything?"
She stood up, and he matched her glare. Why couldn't she just tell him if she did?
"It doesn't matter. It's over. I'm with you remember?"
She snapped, and he stood up.
"It does matter. I want to know. Do you still love him? At least a little?"
"No!"
She shouted, and it was like a blow to the chest. He had effectively stolen her, from himself. If he had known, if she had told him, he would have pursued her as Adrien. Not as Chat.
"Can we please not talk about this?"
Her voice was desperate, and he looked away from her. Why was it that girls always wanted to dance around the subject?
"Fine."
There was a long pause, and she sighed.
"You're mad at me. For kissing him."
He wanted to roll his eyes. No. He had really enjoyed when she kissed him as Adrien. She was tentative at first, but it didn't last long. He should have realized how she felt before.
"No Marinette. I'm not. I just wanted you to be honest with me. Not just about what happened. About how you felt during it."
"I don't know how I fucking felt okay? I liked it. I had been wanting that for so long, that when it happened I just wanted to enjoy it. Is that what you want to hear? I bet not. There are some things that don't need to be talked about."
He sighed, at least she had enjoyed it. That was good to know.
"Would you have let anyone else kiss you like that?"
"No. Only you. The only reason he kissed me, was because he was trying to convince Lila we were a couple. Tomorrow I'm calling it off. I don't want anyone to think I'm with him, because I'm with you."
He didn't know what to feel. He was disappointed, that she was calling it off with Adrien. But happy that it was because she wanted to be with Chat. He just nodded, not knowing what else to say.
"So, you going to that party?"
He shrugged, Chat definitely wasn't going. But Adrien could try. She slid her chair closer to his, and he looked up at her.
"I'm sorry I snapped."
He smiled, leaning forward and kissing her cheek.
"No worries purrincess. And you don't have to call off the thing with Adrien. Just let him know that you're taken, so kissing and anything else is off the table."
She shrugged, and he leaned forward, running his hands down her arms. She closed her eyes, and he smiled. She was perfect, and she was his. But he had a new plan now. She had to fall back in love with Adrien. Because if he ever did make the decision to reveal his identity, he wanted her to love both sides of him. The cunning cat, and the model.