Marinette
She sat down next to Alya, staring at the board. How could this have happened? Did Adrien actually like her? She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Of course not. It would be impossible, that after all these years he would start liking her. It wouldn't matter if he did anyway, because she loved Chat. She knew for a fact she loved him more than she did Adrien. She was herself with Chat. No tounge tied, no stutters. She was completely normal with him.
"So, have you asked him yet?"
Marinette opened her eyes, looking over at Alya, who was smirking over a cup of coffee. That girl would probably die if she didn't have coffee every morning.
"What?"
"You know. Have you asked him to prom?"
Marinette made a face, her mind jumping to Adrien. He asked her. Not the other way around. But why was she asking it like that?
"Who?"
"Your knight in shining leather."
Leather? Chat. Oh good, she didn't know about Adrien.
"Uh, no. No I haven't."
"You should. He said he loved you. It's so romantic. Does he come over often?"
Marinette shook her head, setting her bag down by her feet.
"We're just friends."
"Give him a shot Mari. You're moving on, and he just happens to fall in love with you? It's perfect."
Marinette wanted to roll her eyes. Why was Alya always so hands on with her love life? Didn't she have one of her own to take care of?
"At least invite him to prom. You two would make such a cute couple."
"Alya I said no."
She whined in response, grabbing Marinette by the shoulders, and turning her to face her.
"What are you so afraid of? Just go on one date with him and see how it goes."
"Trying to set my girlfriend up with someone else?"
Adrien slid into the seat next to Marinette, and both the girls turned to him.
"What?"
They asked in unison, and Marinette felt her face growing hot. He was so close to her.
"You're dating?"
Alya asked, and Marinette stared at him in horror. What had he done? What was he doing?
"She didn't tell you?"
He looked at Marinette in confusion, and she actually started to wonder if they were dating. He said it with such confidence. Had she agreed to date him and just forgot about it?
"Marinette? You're dating Adrien?"
No. There was no way they were dating. She would have remembered.
"Uh.. can I talk to you? Outside?"
Her tone was forced, and he raised an eyebrow before getting up. She clenched her jaw, squeezing through the small amount of space between him and the desk. Was that his way of trying to help her get out of a date? He followed her out into the hall, and she turned around to look at him.
"That's how you tell a lie."
He grinned, and anger bubbled in her chest. Was all of that just to get back at her for lying on saturday?
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
She snapped before she could stop herself, and his grin turned into a frown. A long time ago she would have begged for forgiveness. But not now, not anymore.
"Calm down. I just thought it was a good plan."
"A good plan? Now I have to explain to my actual boyfriend, why you're going around telling people we're dating. Do you understand how bad that's going to be?"
Chat was going to be pissed. For no reason, other than Adrien being a dumbass.
"Listen for a second. You haven't told Alya about your boyfriend. So it would mean you're keeping him a secret. Right?"
She crossed her arms, giving him an exasperated nod. He mimicked her movement, also crossing his arms.
"And we were already pretending to be a couple in front of Lila. How would your boyfriend feel if Alya ended up setting you up on a date with someone? Because I heard her talking to Nino about it. Imagine explaining that to your boyfriend."
She frowned, looking away from him to the classroom door. Alya hadn't crossed that line before. Sure, she had with Adrien, but that was different. He made it sound like a blind date.
"Maybe it's with my boyfriend."
Alya didn't know she and Chat were dating. Maybe she was just trying to get them to go out on a date.
"Maybe. But if he's supposed to be a secret, going on a date probably wouldn't be the best idea. If your boyfriend has problems with what I said in there, give him my number. I'll explain everything to him."
There was no way in hell she was going to give Chat Adrien's number.
"Adrien-"
Memories of the other night with Chat resurfaced, the memory of Adrien's name being one of the strongest. She tried to push it down, but it wouldn't leave. She had never moaned his name like that. She glanced up at him, trying to draw a line in the sand. That night was with Chat. Not Adrien. She couldn't allow herself to link Adrien to it. Unfortunatly his eyes weren't on hers. They were on her mouth. Her heart started racing, and she looked away. He needed to stop it. He couldn't look at her like that. Not now, not ever. Her chest started hurting, like her heart was about to obliterate her rib cage. Her mouth was suddenly dry, and she needed a break.
"Will you tell the teacher I had to go get something from my locker?"
Her voice came out breathy, and she swallowed her embarrassment, turning and marching towards the lockers. That was so stupid. She made it to her locker, pressing her forehead against the cool metal. Her heart was still hammering away, and it felt like more butterflies had joined the fray.
"Kitty can we talk?"
She texted, and received an immediate response.
"What's up princess?"
"Adrien asked me to prom and then stated that we were dating to Alya."
She opened her locker, glaring at the dozen red roses. Did he even know what red roses meant? They were supposed to represent love. And passion. They weren't supposed to come from someone who had insisted for years that they were such good friends.
"Why?"
"He heard Alya trying to set me up on a date with you, and he knew I had a boyfriend, so I guess that was his attempt at saving me."
She replied, slamming her locker. She didn't want Chat to worry. There was nothing going on between her and Adrien. But the way Adrien was acting would make anyone suspicious.
"I trust you Marinette. If you think it will help Alya back off, go for it. And if you want to go to prom with him as friends, that's fine. If you're uncomfortable with the idea, tell him no."
He wasn't mad? She leaned back against the locker, staring at her phone. Chat was the jealous type. So why wasn't he jealous? Did he really trust her that much?
"Okay."
She shut her phone back off and went to class, not looking in Adrien's direction as she sat down. Could she do it? Could she pretend to be his girlfriend, without ruining her plan? Alya nudged her, her eyes wide.
"Was he being serious?"
Marinette stared at her for a moment, before turning in her seat to glance at Adrien. He was already watching her, and he tilted his head as if waiting for an answer. She nodded, sighing softly.
"Yep. We're dating."
She said it quietly, but knew he had heard. He smiled, and she turned around in her seat. When had life become so complicated? Why was everything getting so tangled?
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know if it was going to work out, so I wanted to wait."
Marinette lied, looking ahead at the board. That was it. Why her life was getting tangled. She had been dishonest so much, it was now nothing but a web of lies. And it felt like it was unraveling.
Adrien
He stared at the back of her head, trying to focus. She was definitely Ladybug. He could see it in the way she stood up for others, the way she didn't back down from Chloe. Marinette and Ladybug were one in the same. He didn't understand how the black cat had gotten so lucky, falling for the same girl twice. There was still like a one percent chance that it wasn't her, but that one percent didn't matter. He knew it was her. He could see it in her eyes, and her smile. It had been her this whole time, she had been right under his nose. She suddenly turned and looked back at him, and from across the room he felt himself get lost in her gaze. She was beautiful, she was perfect. Her eyes seemed to widen in question, but he didn't understand what she was asking. He wanted her to understand that it was him. That her cat was there. Nino elbowed him in the ribcage, pulling his gaze away from his lady.
"What?"
He hissed, looking over at Nino.
"Adrien!"
He snapped his head up to the teacher, who looked annoyed.
"Uh, ye- yeah?"
"What is the answer to number six?"
He fumbled with his paper, flipping it over to the back.
"Forty six."
He could feel his face getting hot, and Nino snickered next to him.
"Correct. But try to keep up with the class."
He nodded, glancing in Marinette's direction again. She was watching him curiously, and it set his heart on fire. His lady was watching. She looked worried about him. He smiled softly, and after a moment she returned it. The love of his life was smiling at him.
"Stop staring before you get in trouble again."
Nino whispered next to him and he glanced at him, his smile fading.
"I wasn't staring."
"You were drooling."
"Oh stop it, I was not."
Nino shot him a knowing look and Adrien rolled his eyes. His thoughts immediately returned to her, his heart pounding. All those times Ladybug had rejected him, was because she was in love with Adrien. This whole time, he had thought she loved someone else. But she didn't. She loved him. All of him, whether she knew it or not. And it made her all the more appealing. He knew she would probably hate him, for finding out who she was, but that didn't matter now. It was too late to undo it, and he was glad he knew. His heart belonged to one person, and it had always belonged to her. Should he tell her? Who he was? That he knew who she was? He would finally be able to lift some of that weight from her shoulders. He could help guard the miraculous box. He could finally be there to help her. Completely. He watched her say something to Alya, who glanced back in his direction. Alya grinned at him, before whispering something to Marinette. She shook her head in response to whatever it was, before turning her head to the side to look at him from the corner of her eye.
'Yes princess. I'm here, just look a little more closely. Please.'
He thought to himself, and Nino stuck his hand in front of his face.
"Stop ogling her. Jesus."
He chuckled, swatting his friend's hand away.
"It's actually kind of funny. After all these years, when school is ending, you finally start to notice her."
He flinched at his words, looking down at his desk. It wasn't his fault he hadn't noticed her. Ladybug had always had his full attention. And she still did, because that brilliant girl in front of him was the very same one.
"I don't know how I managed to miss her."
He mumbled, and Nino patted him on the shoulder.
"Well, now that you've noticed, you can make it up to her."
He could, couldn't he? He could explain everything to her, and they could laugh at their own stupidity together. Right? Or would she shut down again? He couldn't bear that thought.
Gabriel Agreste
"What is he doing here?"
He hissed, and Natalie shook her head. They both glanced at the young man standing at the door, clutching the bag at his side. This man looked like garbage. His clothes were black and disheveled, his hair greasy, poorly hidden with a cap.
"Damien I thought we agreed to talk over the phone."
Gabriel said sternly, walking over to him. The kid grinned, before pulling his laptop out of his bag and walking over to the desk. He was annoyed at Damien's ability to make himself at home, even where he wasn't wanted.
"I had to show you this in person."
He set his laptop down, grabbing a notepad from the desk.
"Stop touching my belongings."
"Just look."
He snapped in response, and Gabriel gritted his teeth. How dare he just show up like this? Damien grabbed a pen and wrote out the user name, looking over at Gabriel.
"See anything odd?"
"Other than you?"
Damien rolled his eyes, pointing at the paper. 'Peper heard of strife. Iou' was written in his sloppy handwriting.
"I couldn't find anything linking to this user. Until I looked at his name. It's an anagram."
Gabriel frowned, grabbing the paper and looking at it. An anagram? He didn't see anything that could fit. Damien grabbed it back, setting it on the desk and writing out something below it. When his hand moved, Gabriel's blood ran cold. It read 'Reaper of the perfidious.'
"Perfidious means deceitful and untrustworthy. And you my friend, have gotten his attention. This guy, is a god of code. His tag is all over the place."
He didn't know what that meant, nor did he care.
"What does this mean for me?"
"It means, your days are numbered. When the reaper sets his eyes on something, he always gets the job done. He's practically a legend."
Gabriel glanced at Natalie, who held a worried expression. He imagined he looked the same.
"I want you to find him."
"I have an address, if you're interested. But my price has just gone up. If I'm going to take down one of the legends, I'm getting paid for it."
Gabriel growled, his glare locked on Damien, who didn't back down.
"How much?"
"Ten thousand on top of what you're already paying me."
He nodded, and Damien grinned, producing a small slip of paper from his pocket. He handed it to Natalie, who looked down at it.
"If I get you a photo, could you find out who he is?"
"It could take me a few days. But yeah."
Gabriel nodded, and dismissed him with a wave.
"We'll be in contact."
Damien grabbed his laptop and saluted the two, before making his way out of the door. Natalie followed him to make sure he actually left, and didn't steal anything. When she returned, he looked up at her.
"Reaper of the perfidious. Ladybug and Chat Noir hired someone, who outs identities? Why would they do that? How did they even find him?"
Natalie twirled her stylist between her fingers, and the movement grated on his nerves.
"Perhaps they didn't. What if he found them?"
She asked, and he thought for a moment. That made sense. What if he found out their identities? So they hired him to go after hawkmoth?
"If they were able to pay him off so easily, maybe we could switch him to our side."
Gabriel murmered, and Natalie nodded.
"Do you want me to go attempt to get pictures?"
He shook his head, turning to look at the portrait of Emile. They were so close.
"No, send the body guard."
Natalie walked away, and he sighed. After all these years, someone knew something. And he would do whatever it took get that information. Anything. He wanted Emile there for Adrien's graduation. The least he could do was give her that.