Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chloé Bourgeois was laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, when she heard the thump on her balcony. At first, that didn’t phase her much. She was used to birds occasionally landing on the railing. So she didn’t move, and kept on staring at the ceiling, until the sound of something else reached her ears.

Was that... someone crying?

Chloé sat up to listen better. It did sound like the sound of someone softly crying. But it could also have been birds cooing. Curious, she swung her legs off the bed and stood up. It was cool enough out at night now that she grabbed her robe, sliding it on quickly, before she walked over to the partially open doors.

“Chat Noir?” Chloé said, genuinely baffled when she pushed the door opened and spotted none other than Paris’s second favorite superhero sitting on her lounge chair, crying into his hands.

Chat jumped. “Ch- Chloé! I didn’t – I didn’t know you were home,” he gulped, hastily wiping at his face.

Chloé frowned, pulling her robe shut. It was late, and she felt a little self-conscious standing there in only a robe with her hair down around her face. No make-up or anything. Didn’t superheroes know that there were appropriate visiting hours?!

“What are you doing here?” she asked finally, confused.

“I was just – ” Chat drew in a quivery breath, then exhaled slowly. His shoulders slumped. He looked so sad and miserable that even Chloé felt a tiny bit bad for him.

She took a step forward, then stopped short with a quick yelp. The balcony floor was freezing, and she had no slippers on.

Chat jumped up, his hands up to stop her. “Don’t! It’s cold out. I shouldn’t have interrupted your evening. I’m sorry. I’ll go.”

“Stop!” Chloé commanded, and it was her turn to hold up a hand. “You came for a reason, right? Just – come inside. I know the suit helps you not to feel the cold, but still.”

“I should go,” Chat said quietly, but he didn’t move to leave.

Chloé shrugged at him and turned on her heel, walking back into her room to find some slippers. Somehow, she was not surprised to glance over her shoulder and see Chat Noir slipping into her room. He blended well with the shadows but for his luminous green eyes, which gleamed like a cat’s eyes.

“Shut the door,” Chloé requested, and he did.

She put some slippers on and then looked at him, standing there, watching her in return. She still didn’t know why he was here. There was no akuma – and even if there was, he wouldn’t have come seeking her help anyway. She tried not to feel bitter about that.

“Why are you here?” she asked again, but gentler this time.

“Because...” Chat was quiet for a moment before he sighed. “I didn’t know where else to go. I didn’t want to be alone at home.”

“Why not go see Ladybug?” Chloé asked, her confusion deepening, and was startled when Chat’s face closed over.

When had Chat Noir stopped lighting up like a lightbulb at the mention of Ladybug’s name?

“Ladybug was busy,” Chat said shortly. “She had plans with Rena Rouge.”

“Okay,” Chloé said slowly.

“Plans as civilians.”

Oh. Chloé honestly did not know what to say to that.

She stared at Chat for a few seconds, her mind racing. Literally everyone in Paris knew that Ladybug was a major stickler when it came to their identities. She was always the first to shut down interviews, and had sometimes scolded reporters for being too nosey. Furthermore, that was one of the reasons she had taken the Bee miraculous away from Chloé permanently.

Chloé had always imagined that if anyone would know each other’s identity, it would be Ladybug and Chat Noir. Not Ladybug and Rena Rouge. It was kind of hard to wrap her mind around the fact that Ladybug would trust anyone more than she trusted Chat. How on earth had that happened?

“How on earth did that happen?” Chloé asked out loud.

Chat shrugged, looking tired and sad. “I don’t know. I didn’t even know it had until tonight. And when I found, I just – ” He cut himself off, averting his eyes. “I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Wait,” Chloé said when he went to leave, and again Chat stopped. But he stood facing the door, not looking at her. The tension in his shoulders suggested that he was sorry he’d come inside to begin with.

Chloé stared at his back. She understood why he was upset now. Of course he was. This must have felt like a pretty major betrayal.

But why had he come here?

It just didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t like she had a pre-existing relationship with Chat Noir. He didn’t seem to like her very much the few times she’d worked with them as Queen Bee, although he was at least more cordial than Ladybug was.

“Why come here?” Chloé asked finally. “Because Ladybug hates me? To get back at me?”

“No!” Chat said, turned around with a shocked look, and she believed me.

“Then why?”

Chat hesitated for a long moment before sighing. “Like I said, I didn’t know where else to go. You’re – you’re my oldest friend, Chloé.”

Chloé blinked, and stared at him, and then blinked some more.

“Plagg, claws in,” Chat said softly.

There was a green flash of light, dizzyingly bright in the otherwise dim room, and then Adrien was left standing there with a tiny black, green-eyed cat kwami floating beside him.

“Adrien,” Plagg said, shocked. He looked uncertainly at Chloé.

Adrien didn’t say anything. He bowed his head and clenched his shaking hands into fists at his sides.

Chloé didn’t know what to say or do. She was stunned from the realization that Adrien was Chat Noir. It so much sense in retrospect, yet it was also the very last thing that she expected. A million things were suddenly falling into place, and it was overwhelming.

“Kid,” Plagg said, softer this time, and flew close enough to Adrien to rest a tiny black paw on Adrien’s cheek. Adrien let out a choked sob.

Chloé was moving before she’d fully registered it, stumbling across the room towards Adrien. She had no idea if he would accept a hug from her; over the past few years, Adrien had shied away from her touch. He used to like it when she hung off his arm in public. Now he hated it, and actively shook her off if she tried. She couldn’t remember the last time she had touched him.

For the first time in years, he reached out to her.

Adrien grabbed onto her like a drowning man grabbing at a life ring. His right arm encircled her waist, crushing Chloé against his body, while his left arm slid around her shoulders to hold her in place. He buried his face in her hair. She could feel the moment when he began to shake as sobs overtook him.

There had been a few times in Chloé Bourgeois’s life when she had a choice to make. Moments where that pivotal choice could take her in two very different directions. Chloé could admit, if only to herself, that she usually made the wrong decision.

She didn’t want that to happen now.

Somehow, she managed to get her arms around Adrien’s neck, and whispered, “Shh, Adrien. It’s okay. I’m right here.”

His shaking worsened and he gripped her even tighter, like he was trying to use Chloé as a way to avoid completely breaking down. Chloé hugged him back as tightly as she could, and caught a glimpse of Plagg quietly flying away over Adrien’s shoulder. She didn’t see where he went after that; all her focus was on trying to keep Adrien Agreste from shattering into a thousand pieces.

She lost track of how long they stood for. Adrien cried for a long time. When he finally stopped, she sensed that it was because he was too exhausted to cry anymore, not because he was done crying. It broke her heart to know that this cheerful, sunshine boy had been carrying so much pain and grief around inside of him, all of it hidden behind a sweet smile.

“Adrien, come on,” she whispered. He was leaning more into her, and he was heavy. Her knees were threatening to buckle under his weight.

Slowly, she managed to coax him over to her bed. Adrien sank down onto the mattress and rubbed his face with the sleeve of his shirt. Then he looked up at her with a lost expression. Chloé met his gaze and reached out to brush away the hair that was matted to his forehead. She had so many questions, but Adrien didn’t look like he was in any state to answer them.

“Go to sleep,” she said instead. “You look like you could use a really good night’s sleep.”

Adrien sighed. “Can’t,” he mumbled. “Got a photoshoot tomorrow.”

“It’s okay. I’ll wake you up in lots of time to get home before anyone notices,” Chloé said. “Go on. Take your shoes off and slide under the covers. Just like when we were kids, remember?” She pulled the covers back and waved a hand invitingly.

He didn’t hesitate anymore. He kicked his sneakers off and laid back. Chloé drew the covers up over him and sat on the bed beside him. It took less than a minute before Adrien was asleep. He put his head on her pillow, took a deep breath, and then sighed again. It was like all the fight went out of him with that sigh, and he passed out before it even ended.

“Finally.”

Chloé jumped, her head whipping around. She’d nearly forgotten about Plagg. The little cat kwami was hovering right behind her. His bright green eyes bored into Chloé’s for a moment before Plagg looked past her, towards Adrien.

“Finally?” Chloé repeated in a whisper.

“Finally, you got him to sleep,” Plagg elaborated. “Kid’s barely been sleeping for the past few months. He’s so torn up about Ladybug.”

Chloé frowned at the mention of Ladybug, and asked, “I don’t exactly understand what happened here. Did Ladybug choose someone else?”

Plagg let out a sigh and moved a little closer. “It does seem that way. Ladybug and Chat Noir started out as equal partners, but... due to...” He hesitated a bit. “... Circumstances, they’ve drifted apart. Ladybug has chosen to confide in just Rena Rouge from the sound of it.”

“Poor Adrien. That’s so unfair,” Chloé whispered, shocked by Ladybug’s cruelty.

Chat Noir had been with Ladybug since the very beginning. It had just been the two of them for months. Chloé herself had witnessed how Chat, and only Chat, could bolster Ladybug when she hit rock bottom. So why on earth had she chosen to confide in someone else and leave Chat Noir out of it? Why didn’t she trust him? This must have been driving Adrien crazy. Didn’t Ladybug care? Didn’t she notice?

“It’s more complicated than that, but it’s not my place to tell you the whole story,” Plagg said. “But... even I have to admit that finding out Ladybug has told Rena Rouge about her identity is a low blow.” He stared at Adrien with a sad expression, tail drooping. “That must have cut the kid to the bone.”

“I don’t understand why she would do that,” Chloé said. But then, there were a lot of things about Ladybug that she didn’t understand.

Plagg shook his head. “I don’t understand it either. Ladybug has always insisted on keeping their identities secret for safety reasons. That she would now confide in someone else...” He frowned deeply, folding his paws over his chest.

It was Chloé’s turn to sigh. “Poor Adrien,” she said again, reaching out to smooth the hair away from Adrien’s face again. His expression, tense in sleep, eased at her touch.

Plagg watched this, then said slowly, “I was surprised that Adrien came here.”

She could have been insulted by that; instead, Chloé shrugged. “I was too. I didn’t think we were really friends anymore. But he said he didn’t know where else to go, and he knows that I would never turn him away.”

She gazed at Adrien for a moment, taking in his face for the first time in a while. Adrien was growing up, she noticed with a pang. Stubble was forming across the lower portion of his face. He’d lost what little baby fat he had, his features turning slightly more angular. Yet there was something soft about him too that made her remember Adrien’s mother. He was even more handsome as a man than he was a child.

Slowly, her hand slipped from his forehead down to his cheek. Chloé brushed the backs of her fingers against his cheek, her heart twisting. She’d been in love with Adrien Agreste since they were children. She had always hoped that someday he would feel the same. How far they’d drifted apart hurt every day.

And now she knew why Adrien was so into Ladybug. He was Chat Noir, and everyone in Paris knew that Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug.

There was really no chance for Chloé in his heart, was there?

She swallowed shakily and pulled her hand back, suddenly remembering that Plagg was right there. It felt like she had allowed Plagg to witness a moment that was too intimate for anyone else’s eyes. Chloé cleared her throat, feeling a little embarrassed, and turned back to Plagg.

“Do you need anything? Food?” she asked, remembering that kwamis liked to eat.

Plagg just looked at her for a few seconds, his green eyes considering. Then he said, “I like cheese.”

“Cheese...” Chloé didn’t have any cheese. And it was the middle of the night, so it would look a little strange if she called the front desk and ordered just cheese.

“Is there a restaurant here?” Plagg wanted to know.

“Downstairs on the first floor,” Chloé said. She hesitated, glancing at Adrien. Even though it was unlikely that he would wake up, she still wasn’t sure she wanted to leave him alone.

As though reading her mind, Plagg said, “Don’t worry about it. I can find my own way.”

“Are you sure? We have security systems,” Chloé said uncertainly.

Plagg grinned, showing all of his sharp little teeth. “It’s all good. Just keep an eye on the kid for me.”

“Okay,” Chloé said, realizing that there really was nothing else to do. She didn’t want to leave Adrien, and it would be mean to make Plagg sit around hungry. She watched as Plagg flew over to the door and phased soundlessly through it.

Then she looked down at Adrien again. It was late, and she was tired too. Getting under the covers with him seemed like a step too far, but maybe it would be alright if she laid down on top of them? She had a queen-sized bed that was more than big enough for both of them. She laid down slowly, pulling another pillow over for her head, and looked at Adrien for a moment.

“Good night, Adrien,” she whispered, and then closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

Chapter Text

See, the thing was, Adrien knew there was a growing distance between him and Ladybug. It was impossible not to notice the way she turned to others in battle before him, or that Rena Rouge joined them nightly for patrols, or that Ladybug had way more inside jokes with Rena Rouge than she’d ever had with him. How could he not notice that she didn’t seem to care that he didn’t call her by a nickname anymore?

But still, the realization that Ladybug and Rena Rouge knew each other’s identities had felt like a punch directly to his heart. It happened like this:

Chat was running late. It seemed like the older he got, the more demanding Gabriel grew. He would have thought that his father had guessed that Adrien was done with modelling the moment he turned eighteen, and that Gabriel wanted to cram in as much work as possible between now and then, except that would have required Gabriel to realize that Adrien was a person and not a robot.

He jumped out his window and sprinted towards the place where he and Ladybug were supposed to meet. Since it was supposed to be just the two of them, he was excited by the thought of getting to spend some private time with Ladybug. It felt like it had been a long time since that had happened.

As he neared their meeting place, he rounded a corner and came to a stop. Because Rena Rouge was sitting there on the rooftop with Ladybug. Both of them were holding take-out cups. Rena Rouge was gesturing wildly. Ladybug was laughing, her head thrown back in a way that made Chat’s heart twist. He used to be able to make Ladybug laugh like that.

For a moment, Chat honestly thought about going home. But then Ladybug laughed again, and she caught sight of him. She smiled and waved, but it wasn’t the way she used to. And Chat – his heart used to skip a beat at that smile, but now he found himself feeling hollow as he slowly approached.

“Hey Chat! You’re late,” Ladybug said.

“As usual,” Rena said, and giggled.

Chat had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at her. What did they know about his personal life? What did they know about what he went through? Absolutely nothing.

Instead, he forced a smile. “Work ran late. Did you guys patrol already?”

“Yeah, we did. Then Rena treated me,” Ladybug said, shooting a much warmer smile at Rena. Rena smiled back at her, and for a split second Chat kind of hated them both.

“Oh, okay,” he said. “Well, I guess I’ll take a quick loop around before I go home.”

“Sit with us for a while,” Rena invited, patting the empty seat beside her. “I was just telling Ladybug about the time that my – oh, uh...” She trailed off for a moment and pinched her lips together, making a face.

“Uh, private story,” Ladybug said quickly, making a face back at Rena. The two girls shared a look that Chat didn’t understand, and it made him feel desperately left out.

“Huh?” Chat said, oh so eloquently expressing his confusion, and Rena waved a hand.

“Never mind, it’s not that big of a deal,” she said quickly.

“You had a long day?” Ladybug asked at the same time, looking up at him. It seemed like a sincere question, but Chat couldn’t help thinking she was only asking to change the subject.

He shrugged. “Just another day,” he said glumly. “And more of it tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow Ladybug and I are going to the movies,” Rena said, shooting a grin at Ladybug.

Something passed over Ladybug’s face, almost too fast for Chat to catch – regret, maybe? Chat didn’t know. He was too busy processing what Rena had just said, and realizing what it meant. Because surely Rena and Ladybug were not going to the movies as Rena and Ladybug. That would just attract way too much attention, and Ladybug would never stand for that.

That meant Ladybug had told Rena who she was, or Rena had found out somehow – but Chat thought it was more inclined to be the former. Ladybug was just too careful. He found it difficult to believe that anyone could have found out by accident. Which meant she’d told Rena.

Told Rena.

Not him.

Ladybug was biting her lip and staring at Rena. Rena frowned, obviously catching on to the sudden tension, but not sure what was causing it. Chat really wanted to unload on the both of them. He wanted to tell Ladybug how fucking ridiculous it was that the two of them had been partners for the better part four years now, and she still couldn’t trust him. He wanted to tell her just how sick and tired he was of being so easily replaced. He wanted to tell her how shitty it was she could tell Rena, who had only been a steady miraculous holder for less than a year, her secrets instead of her fucking partner.

But he didn’t, because he knew he wouldn’t get more than a sentence out before he started crying. At one time, he wouldn’t have hesitated to cry in front of Ladybug. He had always felt that they could be weak together like that, and that Ladybug wouldn’t judge for him it. That she would just comfort him, and then help him stand back up to face whatever came next.

He wasn’t sure of that, anymore.

He wasn’t sure of anything.

“I have to go,” he said in a low, choked voice. He turned on his heel and ran towards the rooftop.

Chat Noir fled hoping that Ladybug might call him back, but she didn’t.

And that was the final blow that shattered the place in his heart where he loved her.

He ran blindly at first. He didn’t want to go home, back to his empty bedroom where there would only be Plagg for company. He knew better than to think that his father or Nathalie would be company; those hopes had been strangled by his father’s stoic uncaring a long time ago. His bedroom was nothing more than a materialistic prison, crammed full of stuff designed to keep Adrien in line.

He thought about going to Nino, but it only took a moment or two for him to decide against that. Nino and Alya had been getting really serious lately. They’d been spending basically all their free time together. Which was fine, and perfectly understandable, but that meant Adrien and Nino had drifted apart a little bit. Also, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with Alya right now. And since Nino was probably either with her or talking to her, that left Nino out.

At a loss, Chat devoted himself to just running for a while. Every time he slowed down, the thoughts and emotions started to overwhelm him again, and he found himself running again to try and escape them. He lost track of time as he pushed himself, running until his leg muscles were begging for mercy and the breath was so tight in his chest he was gasping.

He finally fell to his knees on a rooftop, panting for breath. Hot tears rushed to his eyes. He squeezed his hand into a shaking fist.

Just once, Chat Noir wanted to matter to someone.

Adrien Agreste wanted to matter to someone.

He stayed there for several minutes, struggling for composure, until at least he staggered to his feet. He looked up, realizing that he had no idea where he was, and found himself in an unfamiliar area in Paris. Wearily, feeling sick, he scaled a nearby rooftop so that he could get a better vantage point.

The first thing he saw was Le Grand Paris. The massive hotel was all lit up at this time of the night, shining like a beacon. Chat stared at it for a long moment. When he was a child, especially after his mother passed away, that hotel used to be his safe place. He’d loved spending time there, because it felt like the only place where what Gabriel Agreste wanted didn’t matter. He’d loved spending time with Chloé.

Chloé.

Chat chewed his lower lip. He and Chloé weren’t exactly close anymore, and that was partially his fault. He’d stopped actively spending time with her after making friends with people like Nino, Alya, and Marinette. For a long time, Chloé’s nasty behavior had turned his stomach. She was more like her mother than he wanted to admit, and he couldn’t stand being around proof of that.

But now, looking at the hotel, he slowly realized that it had been a long time since he’d heard anyone talk about Chloé bullying them. In fact, it had been a long time since he’d heard Chloé talking period. She ran under the radar for the most part now, and how had that happened? Why had that happened? He didn’t know, but he had a sudden, intense yearning to see her.

Chloé had always been there for him in her own way. Going there like this would be dangerous, but Chat couldn’t stop himself. He was jumping from the rooftop and running towards the hotel before he could stop himself.

And that was how Adrien Agreste woke up in Chloé Bourgeois’s bed on a rainy morning. He opened his eyes in confusion at first, not really sure where he was. But then he registered that someone was laying beside him, and the memories of last night rushed over him in a wave. He closed his eyes momentarily, breathing through a wave of nauseous pain, before looking over at Chloé.

She was laying on top of the covers, facing towards Adrien. Her deep breathing told Adrien that she was still asleep, so he took his time looking at her. He had nearly forgotten how beautiful Chloé was. Without make-up, with her hair down, she looked soft and almost sweet. She was growing up, he realized with a pang of sadness. They were all growing up, for better or worse.

He reached out and curled a finger around a few strands of hair that lay on the bed between them. She must have been growing her hair out, because it almost reached her waist now. It was silky between his fingers. He played with the strands idly, still looking at her face, remembering back when they were kids and a smile from her could make his whole day golden. He wondered what it would take to make Chloé smile now.

Chloé must have sensed his gaze, or maybe something else woke her, because her eyes fluttered. She opened her eyes and stared at Adrien with sleepy confusion for a few seconds. Then she must have remembered what happened, because her eyes widened.

“Adrien, are you okay?” she asked, staring at him.

It was instinctive to say yes, to smile and pretend that he was fine. That’s what he would have done under any other circumstances. But right then, Adrien was just so fucking tired of everything. He didn’t have it in him to lie anymore. So he didn’t.

“... No,” he admitted softly. “I’m – I’m really tired, Chlo.”

Chloé’s eyebrows furrowed, and she bit her lip. Then she said, “Can I help?”

Adrien sighed. “I don’t think so. It’s just... between studying for the Bac, trying to keep up with my father’s demands, trying to be a superhero...” He let his head fall back against the pillow. “Finding out that Ladybug doesn’t trust me was just the final straw. I snapped.”

“Oh, Adrien,” she said sadly, and Adrien realized that she was probably the one person who kind of knew what that was like. For reasons Adrien didn’t fully understand, Ladybug hated Chloé and had violently opposed giving Chloé the Bee miraculous from day one.

Ladybug had been filled with an almost vicious glee the day she picked out a new Bee miraculous holder, whose identity, of course, Adrien did not know. It almost made him wonder if Ladybug knew Chloé as a civilian. But Adrien had always stopped himself from going down those roads, because Ladybug didn’t want them to know each other’s identities. He bitterly wondered now if he should’ve just ignored her.

All those years of obeying her wishes... for what? Why hadn’t she just told him that she didn’t trust him? He would have much rather she said it to his face than have Rena casually blurt it out like that. Because it meant that Rena was so comfortable with knowing Ladybug’s identity that she didn’t feel the need to think twice about keeping that fact a secret.

“It’s just been hard,” Adrien choked out finally, realizing that he was getting emotional again. That was embarrassing, especially after his breakdown last night. He put his arm over his eyes.

Chloé shifted beside him, and Adrien thought that she was getting up. But instead, her arms wrapped around his upper body and she pulled him into an awkward hug. He contemplated pulling away for all of two seconds before melting into her embrace, resting his head against her chest. She stroked a hand through his hair, and he let his eyes drift shut.

“I just don’t get it,” he muttered. “We’re supposed to be partners.”

“Ladybug is... complicated,” Chloé said, sighing, and stroked his hair again.

“Yeah, well, maybe it shouldn’t be that complicated,” Adrien said. He felt a little calmer now, wrapped up in her arms. She was leaning over him, and her hair fell over him like a shining curtain, cutting off the rest of the world. Chloé was soft and her hair smelled faintly of strawberries.

“Nothing should be complicated, but everything is,” Chloé said quietly.

Adrien opened his eyes, looking up at the profile of her face. Her eyes were gazing off into the distance but, as though sensing his focus, she glanced down at him. Their eyes met. Adrien felt – he didn’t know what he felt.

Guilty, maybe, that he had ignored Chloé for months now only to come running to her when it was too much.

Gratitude, and relief too, that she had still let him after all this time.

And still yet, wistfulness for how things used to be between them. Adrien missed the days when it was just him and Chloé and his mother, the two most important people in the world.

His world was so uncertain now. He used to think the center of his world was Ladybug, but not anymore. He could see now that he had always put more emphasis on the relationship between Ladybug and Chat Noir. He loved her and would have died for her, but she had never see him as anything other than a teammate. A comrade. Not even a partner, not now that he saw Rena and Ladybug interacting and really understood what it should be like. If Ladybug saw him as a partner, things would be very different.

But she didn’t, and so they weren’t, and now the world stretched out before him, dark and lonely and empty. Except for Chloé, with her golden hair and familiar blue eyes, stroking his hair, giving him respite from the cold.

“Do you want to go out for breakfast?” Adrien asked impulsively. The thought of a day being his father’s little puppet was too much to bear now. Especially since now that Adrien was only a few months away from turning eighteen, a lot of the photoshoots were becoming increasingly sexual. He couldn’t handle the thought of standing there shirtless, trying to look sexy, after last night.

Chloé paused in surprise, her eyes widening slightly. “I thought you had a busy day ahead?”

“Fuck it,” Adrien said. “I’m skipping.”

She gave him a curious look, searching his expression, then, after a moment, shrugged. “Sure.”

Chapter Text

They spent a few more lazy, quiet minutes on the bed, with Adrien enjoying every second of it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so close to another person, and everything about it was wonderful. He soaked in the warmth of her skin, memorizing the way it felt to be pressed against her, to have her arm resting pleasantly on his chest, to have her fingers in his hair.

But then Chloé had to get dressed, so Adrien reluctantly let go and watched as she slipped off the bed. She walked across the room into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Adrien looked around the room. He had no memory of what had happened after getting to Chloé’s bed last night. He felt guilty realizing that he hadn’t even stopped to think about Plagg.

“Plagg?” he called out softly. He assumed that Chloé had seen Plagg – and even if she hadn’t, she would know that as Chat Noir, Adrien had a kwami – but he was too used to keeping Plagg a secret to say it loudly.

There was a stirring from the direction of Chloé’s closet, and then Plagg emerged. He flew right over to the bed, asking, “You alright now, Kid?”

“I’m fine,” Adrien said, touched. Last night must have been even worse than he thought if Plagg was concerned about him, because usually the only thing that mattered in Plagg’s life was cheese. He held out a hand, and Plagg landed on it and peered up at him critically.

“You had a bad night,” Plagg said, not unkindly, and Adrien swallowed around the lump that instantly appeared.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m sorry, Plagg. I know I shouldn’t have told Chloé who I was.” He watched Plagg worriedly. If Master Fu had still been around, he would’ve been freaking out at the possibility of Fu taking his miraculous away. But he didn’t think Plagg would report this back to Ladybug.

Plagg shook his head impatiently. “I don’t care about that. I mean, Ladybug told someone, so doesn’t that mean you can too? Fair is fair.”

Adrien opened his mouth automatically to refute that and then paused, realizing that maybe Plagg had a point. Regardless of how it had happened, Rena Rouge knew Ladybug’s identity. And it seemed like Ladybug was thoroughly enjoying that given how close she and Rena were, even spending time with Rena outside the mask. So why shouldn’t Chat Noir be able to do the same?

“You’ve been burning the candle at both ends for a while now. I’ve been expecting burn out for a while now,” Plagg went on. “I had hoped Ladybug might notice, but...”

“She’s pretty busy,” Adrien said, more bitterly than he’d intended, and Plagg nodded.

“Yes. I can’t say that Chloé is the person I would’ve picked for you to run to, though.” He made a face, and Adrien was reminded of the fact that Plagg didn’t really like Chloé and had never been shy about sharing that fact.

“Please be nice, Plagg. Chloé didn’t have to let me in and let me sleep in her bed,” Adrien said.

Surprisingly, Plagg nodded. “I know. I never thought I would say this, but there’s chance – a minor chance, mind you, but still a chance – that she could be good for you.”

“Really?” Adrien said, frowning slightly. He hadn’t expected that.

“She’s got you skipping out on a photoshoot. That’s a start,” Plagg said with a smirk, and Adrien smiled despite himself.

“Don’t count on it happening too often. I do still have to live with my father,” he said.

“Only until you turn eighteen,” Plagg countered. “Then you can do whatever the fuck you want.”

“I’ve told you before, I am not moving into an apartment over a cheese shop,” Adrien said with fond exasperation. He would receive his inheritance once he turned eighteen, but he doubted that even a considerable inheritance would be enough to cover all the cheese Plagg would eat!

“We’ll see,” Plagg said, a familiar, stubborn glint in his eyes, and Adrien shook his head.

“Get in my pocket, you silly cat,” he said, tucking Plagg into the pocket of his shirt and crawled out of the bed. His sneakers were laying on the floor where he’d discarded them last night. Adrien shoved his feet into them, looking around Chloé’s bedroom again, this time with more interest.

Her room had changed some over the years, he noticed. But then, that was to be expected given that it had been a long time since he had been in her bedroom. Chloé wasn’t a child anymore. Even now, he kept thinking of her as that spoiled, bratty little girl who had simultaneously attracted him and frustrated him. Chloé the adult was something of an enigma.

His eyes wandered across the room, taking it all in. Chloé still had a make-up desk just to the right of her closet. The closet door hung partially open, allowing him a glimpse of the massive amount of clothing within. On the other wall just beside the door was a normal desk, which surprised him as Chloé had never had one of those before. Then there was of course her bed, and then over to the right of the balcony doors was a little sitting area with two comfortable chairs and a small table between them.

On the farthest wall across from the balcony, right where Chloé would be able to see it as she drifted off to sleep at night, was a huge wall hanging. Adrien stared at it for a moment, wondering when and where Chloé had gotten it. It was beautifully stitched and contained a variety of flowers, way too many different types for him to possibly name. But he did see roses, violets, lilies, and carnations.

The bathroom door opened, drawing his attention from the wall hanging. Chloé stepped out. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, black knee-high boots, and a long-sleeved purple shirt with a swirling silver design embroidered on it. Her long hair was gathered back into a low ponytail. She walked across the room to her closet and pulled out a thick, black winter jacket, which she slipped on. Then she looked at Adrien.

“Where’s your coat?” she asked.

“Oh, uh – ” Adrien blinked dumbly. “I didn’t stop to pull it on before I left last night,” he realized.

Chloé frowned. “You can’t go out like that. You’ll freeze,” she said, regarding him dubiously.

“I’ll survive,” Adrien said, standing up, and she shook her head.

“You can get one from the boutique downstairs. I know they have some in stock,” she said. “Ready?”

Adrien nodded and followed her out of the room. The hotel itself hadn’t changed much over the years; they walked to the elevator and took it down to the lobby. It was surprisingly busy given the early hour. Chloé led him over to the boutique just inside the front doors. Adrien flicked quickly through the jackets and chose a black one. He pulled it on and looked at Chloé with a questioning like.

“Very nice,” she said, taking out her credit card.

“Whoa, hey, no way. I’m the dumbass who ran out without a jacket. I can pay,” Adrien said firmly, right up until he realized that he had been in such a rush to leave yesterday that not only had he forgot his jacket, but he’d also forgotten his wallet.

He patted his jeans without success, flushing, and remembered tucking his wallet into the pocket of his jacket when he arrived at the gig yesterday morning. Then he’d gone straight home after, so he hadn’t thought to move it. And then he’d been in such a hurry to meet Ladybug upon arriving home that he’d carelessly tossed his jacket onto his bed, changed out of the Gabriel-approved clothing he was wearing, and jumped right out the window.

How embarrassing. All that effort, all that rushing, to meet someone who probably wouldn’t have even cared if he didn’t show up.

“Problem?” Chloé asked, looking like she was trying not to smile, and Adrien sighed.

“I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s fine.” She ripped the tag off the jacket and went up to the cash register. Adrien watched her go, feeling both stupid and frustrated.

Chloé was being so nice to him. So nice after Adrien had distanced himself and practically ignored her for the better part of two to three years. He had no business running to her now, he realized shamefully. He was damned lucky that Chloé had let him in. Lucky that she was being so kind. Lucky that she hadn’t sent him packing, that she’d let him sleep in her bed.

He had some thinking to do. He didn’t want to take advantage of her kindness. Chloé deserved better than that, even if she had been a bully – maybe still was, he couldn’t be sure. He felt like he couldn’t be sure of anything or anyone anymore. He’d been stumbling along blindly up until now, coasting on the hope that everything would turn out just right like a fairytale, but he couldn’t afford that anymore.

He shuffled outside the boutique to wait for Chloé. The lobby had grown full enough that Adrien pulled the hood of the coat up; he didn’t want any of his father’s business associates spotting him and reporting his presence here back to Gabriel. He glanced out from beneath the hood, looking to see if he recognized anyone.

It took a moment but then, across the lobby, he spotted a familiar figure after all. It was Zoé Lee, Chloé’s half-sister. Zoé was standing in the restaurant’s entryway. She was wearing a short yellow skirt, black and yellow striped tights, black boots, a yellow shirt, and that black leather jacket that she seemed to wear no matter whether it was winter or summer, rainy or sunny.

Adrien stared at her for a moment, taking her in. Her hair was still cut short, but now it was striped pink and blue. It had been a long time since he’d seen Zoé, but she still had the same vibe as before: kind of girly punk but also kind of flat, like she was trying too hard. She didn’t notice his attention; she was looking expectantly at the lobby doors, clearly waiting for someone.

“Here,” Chloé said in his ear, and Adrien startled and grabbed the receipt from her automatically. He stuffed it into the pocket with a muttered thanks, making a mental note to send payment as soon as he got home.

Chloé looked at him curiously, then looked around. Her smile tightened and disappeared when she also spotted Zoé. So far as Adrien knew, there was no love lost between the two half-sisters, and it looked like that had not changed. He glanced at Chloé, then over at Zoé. Despite their similar builds and hair color, no one would ever mistake Zoé for Chloé or vice versa. Their styles were completely different, especially now.

“What made you grow your hair out?” he asked curiously, reaching out to curl a finger around a stray strand.

“I like it long,” Chloé said simply, and Adrien wondered how much of that was due to Zoé. He studied her for a moment. Regardless of the reason, longer hair suited Chloé. It made her look both older and more elegant.

“I like it too,” Adrien said, and was rewarded with a small but genuine smile.

“Where do you want to go to eat?” Chloé asked. She deliberately didn’t look back over at where Zoé was. Over her head, Adrien spotted a very pretty brunette entering the hotel. Zoé’s face lit up when she saw the brunette coming. The two of them met in the middle of the lobby and kissed.

“Anywhere but here,” Adrien said. “You know what, it’s been ages since I ate anything fun.”

“Something fun.” Chloé squinted for a few seconds in thought before nodding slowly. “I think I know a good place.”

“Then show me the way,” Adrien said, and fell into step beside Chloé as they walked to the front door. He winced as they emerged into frigid air. It wasn’t snowing, but dark clouds hung heavily over the city. He eyed the sky and wondered if it would be snowing tonight for patrol.

If he went on patrol, that was. He wasn’t sure if he would bother. Maybe he’d let Rena Rouge and Ladybug handle it for a few nights. He was in no rush to see either one of them anytime soon, especially Ladybug. He hoped that no akumas attacked for the next day or two. He needed some time to himself.

“Hey Chloé?” he said as they walked.

“What?” Chloé had pulled the hood of her coat up too. She looked small and cold.

“Thanks,” Adrien said.

“I told you it’s fine. It’s way too cold out here for no coat,” Chloé said.

“No, I mean – ” Adrien caught her arm, and they both stopped. “I mean thanks for last night. For being there. For listening to me. For not kicking me out on my ass. I probably would have deserved that.”

Chloé pursed her lips for a moment, then said simply, “You’re always welcome in my room, Adrien. You always have been.”

For some reason, that made Adrien’s throat get tight. He hadn’t felt genuinely welcome anywhere for a long time, he realized. He didn’t feel welcome in his father’s house. He never had. He used to feel welcome at school, but his time at school was so limited now. More and more, Adrien was working on his own and meeting up with tutors where necessary just to keep up.

His life felt so small now, just work and being a superhero. Being Chat Noir used to be his release. He used to go for runs across the city. He used to help people who needed it at night. He used to drop in and visit Marinette, even. But then she got busy, so he stopped doing that. And then slowly he got too busy, or too tired, for everything else. When had his life stopped meaning anything?

“Thanks,” Adrien managed to say finally. “I – thanks, Chloé.”

She nodded and turned to face forward again, saying, “We’re almost there.”

Adrien followed to where her pointing finger indicated and laughed. He couldn’t help it.

“Seriously?” he asked. She was pointing to a very fancy combination restaurant and pastry shop. He and Chloé had snuck away once as children and ended up here. Because Chloé was the mayor’s daughter, they’d been served. Adrien remembered eating rich chocolate pastries until his stomach hurt. It had been worth it even after his mother scolded both of them quite fiercely when she showed up to pay the bill.

Chloé shrugged, but there was a tiny smile playing around her lips. “Why not? I haven’t been back since, but they still have an excellent reputation. And you said you wanted to eat something fun.”

“I absolutely did say that,” Adrien murmured, delighted as he followed her to the door of the shop. “Somewhere my nutritionist is having a heart attack and they don’t even know why.”

The restaurant was quiet, not crowded, and they were seated quickly. Adrien unzipped his coat and slid it off, glancing around quickly. But he didn’t see anyone he knew. Then again, this wasn’t really the kind of place where his school friends would come. It would be way too expensive for one thing. And he couldn’t imagine anyone in the fashion industry would want to be within 100 steps of this place, unless they were involved in doing promotional advertising for it.

Their waiter appeared soundlessly at Adrien’s side. “Would Madame and Mademoiselle like to see the menu?” he asked.

“Please,” Adrien said, and grinned at Chloé as the waiter handed them both menus. He flipped through it quickly, trying to figure out how best to destroy his diet with just one meal. For the first time in a while he was genuinely looking forward to something, and he was going to enjoy every damn bite.

Chapter Text

It was late afternoon by the time that Adrien returned home. He expected to be ambushed as soon as he walked in the front door, but his father and Nathalie were either out or otherwise occupied. So that left him free to hurry up the stairs and enter his bedroom. He closed and locked the door behind him, sighing. It felt good to lock out the outdoor world for a while.

“I’m starving!” Plagg burst out of Adrien’s pocket, frowning furiously. Unfortunately, when you were a little cat kwami, that didn’t quite have the impact that Plagg no doubt wanted.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Adrien walked straight over to the fridge and pulled out half a wheel of Camembert. Normally he would’ve cut it into chunks, but today he set the whole thing down. Plagg’s eyes lit with greed and he let out a little cheer as he threw himself onto the cheese.

“Camembert, my love,” he moaned, and then proceeded to gorge himself.

Adrien shook his head slightly, amused, and left Plagg to it. The very next thing he did was put his wallet back into his pocket, and then take out his phone and send some money to Chloé to pay back for both the coat and the meal. Then he threw himself down on his bed with a heavy sigh. He wasn’t tired, but he was mentally tired in a way that sleep couldn’t quite fix.

“I’m just tired of everything,” he said under his breath, and Plagg chortled.

“Yeah, we heard,” he said through a mouthful of cheese.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Adrien said.

“All you did during your breakfast with Blondie was complain,” Plagg said, tossing a fat chunk of Camembert into his mouth. He chewed noisily, smirking at Adrien.

“I didn’t – ” Adrien cut himself off as he slowly realized that Plagg was correct.

His cheeks flushed with shame and embarrassed as he recalled dominating both their meal and the walk that the two of them had taken afterwards with complaints about his father, Nathalie, his job, and, in a quieter tone, Ladybug. Chloé had listened quietly, seemingly realizing that Adrien just badly needed someone that he could vent to, and it had felt really good to tell her everything and know that she was listening.

But he couldn’t help feeling embarrassed now by how much complaining that he’d done. Chloé had barely gotten a word in edgewise. Aside from what he’d already known, he hadn’t really learned anything new about her. And he did want to know about her, about this different Chloé who had changed without his notice. He regretted not taking a step back, toning down his complaints, and asking her a few questions instead.

“Well fuck,” he muttered under his breath, and Plagg snickered again. Adrien shot him a glare as he yanked his phone out again.

He’d invite Chloé out to dinner, he decided. And this time, he would make sure he wasn’t spending the whole time complaining. That was, if she even still wanted to have dinner with him after this. He unlocked his phone and started to text Chloé, then paused. Curious, he instead opened up Instagram.

Not many people knew this, but Adrien actually had two sets of social media accounts. There was the official Adrien Agreste account that wasn’t even run by Adrien, but rather by his father’s Public Relations firm. That was the account that all of his fans followed. It was a carefully curated experience, designed to make Adrien seem as bland and boring and robot-like as his father would have actually liked him to be.

Then there was his own account. BlackCat1904062357 was Adrien’s personal account, which he used for himself. The string of numbers after the name was as random as he could make it, and therefore had exactly zero connection to Adrien Agreste, which was just the way that Adrien wanted it. With that account, he could check out his friends and anyone else without needing to worry about his ‘precious’ image.

He was already following Chloé, but he had to admit that it had been a very long time since he’d looked at her account. He navigated to his profile and scrolled down until he found Chloé. Right away, he noticed that her profile image had changed. It used to be an image of a younger Chloé smiling haughtily into the camera, but now it was an image of some kind of purple flower.

Wondering if her account had been hacked, Adrien clicked on it. Her tagline, formerly ‘If you’re not following me, you’re #utterlyridiculous’ with the crown and bee emojis, was gone. She had no tagline at all now. She had thousands of posts, but minimal followers – less than a hundred. She was only following about twenty people too. Adrien settled back against the pillows more comfortably and began to scroll.

There were a lot of pictures of flowers, rocks, and sparkly gems, both in jewelry form and not, he noticed immediately. Adrien scrolled quickly past them, looking for pictures with Chloé in them, telling himself he’d come back to them later. Photos with Chloé were surprisingly scarce compared to what it used to be, when Chloé was in virtually every imagine that she posted. But finally, he came across one.

It was an image of Chloé and a blonde-haired girl Adrien only vaguely recognized, kneeling in the grass together. There was a large golden retriever between the two of them. The blonde girl had both arms wrapped around the dog and she was laughing as the dog licked her cheek. Chloé was leaning into the two of them, smiling, and had her hand out to take the picture of them.

Day out with three blondes @auroreborealis

Of course. Adrien looked at the photograph again and now recognized the blonde girl as Aurore, who had been akumatized a couple of times now into Stormy Weather. He stared at the image for a long moment. He hadn’t known that Aurore and Chloé were friends. In fact, he was pretty sure that Chloé was the reason that Aurore had gotten akumatized at least once. So when had this happened?

His confusion deepened as he kept scrolling. There weren’t any more pictures of Aurore, but he came across several of Sabrina. There were a handful of photos of just Sabrina and Chloé, but then a few of Chloé, Sabrina, and a guy that he didn’t know. In those photos, the guy usually had his arm around Sabrina’s shoulder. In one, she was sitting in his lap. So her boyfriend, maybe, Adrien assumed.

Then he saw a photo that made him stop completely and say “What?!” out loud in an amazed tone.

It was a picture of Chloé and Kagami together, sitting at a table sharing what looked like a chocolate milkshake. Kagami was looking at the screen with a mostly blank expression, but her lips were curled up ever so slightly. Chloé was smiling from ear to ear. There was no caption for this photo, and Adrien remembered that Kagami had once said her mother didn’t let her use social media.

“What the hell? Kagami and Chloé?” Adrien muttered in confusion. That was one of the most unlikely duos that he could think of.

And then he scrolled down a little more, and received yet another shock: Chloé, Kagami, and Félix of all people. Adrien stared at the picture, bringing his phone right up to his face. He hadn’t spoken to Félix in years. He hadn’t even known that Félix had returned to Paris. But he must have, given that he was sitting right there with Chloé and Kagami at a café that Adrien recognized.

Adrien stared at the photo for a long, long time. In it, Chloé was sitting on one side of the table with Kagami and Félix on the other side. Someone else must have taken this photo; it wasn’t a selfie. Félix and Chloé were in the middle of laughing. Kagami had her lips pressed together like she was trying not to smile, but there was laughter in her dark eyes. The three of them looked comfortable and happy together.

“Whoa,” said a voice right in Adrien’s ear, and Adrien jumped with a startled exclamation. His phone slid out of his hand and he narrowly avoided it landing right on his nose.

“Plagg!” Adrien complained, rubbing at his nose just in case. His father was already going to be furious about Adrien playing hooky today. Adding in a visible bruise that would be difficult to cover with make-up would not help matters.

“What? I got curious,” Plagg said, shrugging. His cheesy Camembert-breath washed across Adrien’s face and Adrien gagged, sitting up quickly.

“Gross, you need to brush your teeth,” he muttered.

“And rid myself of memories of Camembert? No way,” Plagg dismissed. He flew up, but only so that he could look at the photo still on the screen, and said, “When did your cousin get cozy with Blondie? I thought she hated him.”

“I thought so too,” Adrien mumbled, looking at the photo too. The last time he’d seen Félix was when Ladybug tried to punch him in the face. He didn’t often think of his Graham de Vanily relatives, mostly because his father had always been so disdainful of them. Gabriel would’ve been perfectly happy if Félix and Amélie Graham de Vanily disappeared off the face of the earth.

It bothered him, he realized suddenly, that all of this seemed to have been happening behind his back. He didn’t like the idea that Félix had come to know Chloé and Kagami. At first he was inclined to blame Félix for it – how dare Félix make friends with Adrien’s friends?! – but he knew that wasn’t really fair; maybe Félix had changed, and become a different or better person. He must have for him to be seen with Kagami. Though much like with Chloé, it had been months since Adrien had seen Kagami.

Well, that wasn’t quite true. As she grew older, Kagami’s mother had started pushing Kagami to attend more events for the publicity of her company. So sometimes Adrien did see Kagami, once in a while. But it was only ever across a crowded room, and only for a moment at a time, just long enough for Adrien to make eye contact with her or toss of a quick wave. Then Kagami was usually swallowed up by the crowd, and Adrien was whisked away to schmooze with the next person on his father’s list.

He locked his phone and slid off the bed, ignoring Plagg’s little whoop of glee as he dove into the warm spot that Adrien had left behind. He walked over to the full-length mirror that was hanging on his closet door and stared at himself for a long time.

Chloé was growing up.

Kagami was growing.

Even Félix, it seemed, was growing up.

But Adrien didn’t feel like that applied to him. When he looked in the mirror, his body had changed some – but on the inside, he still felt exactly like that stupid little kid who’d had to directly betray his father’s orders just so that he could do something as silly and simple as go to school. At the age of seventeen, he was still blindly obeying his father. Still scared of making Gabriel angry. Still working at a job that he was beginning to loathe.

Still wrapped up in a woman who would never love him back.

He squeezed his eyes shut and took a shuddery breath, wondering how it always led back to Ladybug. In the beginning, he’d been so sure that he would be able to make her fall in love with him. He’d thought that the strength of his feelings for her was something she would eventually respond to. He’d loved her so much that it was almost embarrassing in retrospect when he thought of how he’d fawned over her.

Because the truth was that Adrien had remained steadily true to her for all those years. He’d turned down every person who asked him out, never turning his eyes away from Ladybug, and for what? She didn’t love him. She never would. And Ladybug had every right to feel that way considering that she had been upfront from day one that she didn’t care about him like that. She was in love with someone else, she’d said.

For a moment, he let himself wonder if maybe Ladybug had even started dating that boy she was in love with. They talked about their personal lives even less now than they ever had before. So maybe, he thought sadly, she had been dating someone for the past two or three years. Maybe that was what she and Rena Rouge had been giggling about all those nights.

What a fool he’d been. It was embarrassing to look back at the past few years and see how stupid he’d been. It was time to let Ladybug go, Adrien realized, opening his eyes again. Even though it hurt, he had to step back and accept his position in her life. They weren’t partners. He wasn’t even sure if he would call them friends. They were teammates and nothing more if he was being brutally honest. There was just no other conclusion to come to when he examined the difference between himself and Rena Rouge.

Ladybug and Rena were partners. Not Ladybug and Chat Noir. It was time Adrien accepted that.

He’d skip patrol tonight, he thought, and maybe tomorrow night too. Let Ladybug and Rena handle it for a while. It would give them lots of chances to hang out. Meanwhile, Adrien would focus on getting his life in shape. He was through with letting his actual life flounder under the command of his father, while he desperately sought release through being a superhero and Ladybug.

He was done with that. With all of it.

When his father inevitably confronted him for skipping out on today, he would be ready. A few days ago, Adrien would have bitten his tongue and said nothing while Gabriel either harshly scolded or outright yelled at him – it often depended on what sort of mood his father was in as to how vitriolic his father’s confrontations could be. But not this time.

“I’m an adult,” Adrien mumbled. “Or I will be soon. And it’s time I started taking charge, right?”

“Wassat?” Plagg said loudly from the bed. “Speak up or shut up. I’m trying to sleep.”

Adrien put a hand on his hip and gave Plagg a stern look, but naturally Plagg was completely oblivious. The little cat kwami had already rolled over and begun snoring. And honestly, Adrien envied him. Plagg did whatever the hell he wanted whenever the hell he wanted to, and screw anyone who tried to say otherwise.

Chloé was like that too – or she used to be, Adrien didn’t know if she still was. But she’d never been afraid to say what she wanted. She’d even stood up to Gabriel a few times, facing him unflinchingly even when Gabriel was furious. He had always admired her for that. Maybe, just maybe, Adrien should work on taking a page out of Plagg’s and Chloé’s book for once.

And he would start with getting to know the people he’d drifted so far away from. Before he could overthink it, he returned to his phone and quickly messaged Chloé.

Chapter Text

Another Monday, another day at school. Chloé stared into her mirror and muffled a yawn as she slowly pulled the brush through her hair. The temptation to fake sick and crawl back into bed was pretty strong. It wasn’t like anyone in her family would notice or care. But they had a math test today, and she probably shouldn’t miss it.

Sighing, she stopped brushing her hair and quickly pulled it up into a loose, messy bun. Then she finished her make-up and pulled on the outfit she’d selected for today: tight blue jeans, her favorite black boots, and a thick, warm white sweater. It was snowing outside, just lightly, and she knew that the walk to school was going to be cold and brisk between the snow and the wind.

She grabbed her coat, backpack, and cell phone before heading out of her room. Her phone beeped as she went, and she couldn’t help the way her heart lurched. She snuck a quick glance at the screen as she entered the elevator, hoping against hope that the message might be from Adrien.

She had thought, after they parted way on Saturday morning, that she wouldn't hear from him again. Chloé had been prepared to chalk the whole encounter up to a momentary meltdown, and she'd thought that Adrien would go back to normal after their departure. She hadn't expected that Adrien would reach out to her again, so the text he'd sent her that night about getting dinner this week had come as a genuine surprise.

She still wasn't sure if the dinner would actually happen - wasn't even sure if it would be a good thing for either of them, especially herself, if it did. She didn't mind being a source of support for Adrien/Chat Noir, but she didn't know if she could risk getting close to Adrien again. She didn't blame him for pulling away, but at the same time his pulling away had broken her heart. She couldn't go through that again.

"Well, maybe it won't matter. He'll probably cancel because of his father anyway," Chloé muttered to herself just as the doors opened again. The guests getting on gave her weird looks, which she pretended not to notice.

She was the first off the elevator when they got to the lobby, hurrying up the red carpet and outside. As predicted, it was chilly and windy outside. Chloé pulled her hood up and wished fervently for spring to arrive already. But unfortunately, spring was still a few months away. It was starting to feel like February was never going to end at this rate.

She shoved her hands into her pockets and bowed her hair, setting off at a fast pace towards the school. She thought about Adrien the whole way there. Perhaps foolishly, she'd agreed to dinner. They were supposed to meet Wednesday night. But now that she seriously considered the matter, she really did think Adrien would cancel. It was no secret that Gabriel was really piling on when it came to Adrien's schedule lately.

If Adrien had any sense, Chloé thought grimly, he would quit modelling altogether on the day he turned eighteen, which wasn't actually that far away. But she didn't know if Adrien would do that or not. Adrien had spent his whole life doing what his father told him to do, and Gabriel was so forceful. So controlling. It would take a lot of determination and willpower to be able to get out from under that.

And when she considered Adrien's current state of mind, she just didn't know if he had it in him. Between what had happened with Ladybug and his insane schedule, it sounded like Adrien didn't have much left in him right now. He might stay trapped under Gabriel's thumb forever, and wasn't that just the most depressing thought she'd had in weeks?

Still worrying over Adrien, Chloé rounded the gates and stopped short in surprise. The very object of her thoughts was standing right there, about twenty feet in front of her.

Even though it was cold, most students didn't like going inside until they had to. Alya, Marinette, and Nino were no exception. On mornings when the three of them were hanging out, they usually took seats around a picnic table. Today, Adrien was there too. He was sitting beside Nino, looking down at something on Nino's phone. Alya was typing away on her own phone, probably writing up a post for the Ladyblog, and Marinette -

Chloé rolled her eyes. Marinette was staring at Adrien with that same look of near worship, and it was honestly kind of pathetic at this point. Four years of Marinette being in love with Adrien, and she'd never once mustered up the courage to say a word to Adrien about it. She still blushed and stammered over her words like a little kid if Adrien spoke directly to her.

At this point, Chloé couldn't help thinking that Marinette deserved to have Adrien stolen right out from under her nose. Who the hell pined over a guy in secret for four years?! And really, she also thought that Adrien deserved better than someone who couldn’t speak two words to him. It was no wonder Adrien didn’t seem to be aware of Marinette’s feelings.

As though realizing that a new set of eyes was on him, Adrien looked up. His eyes met Chloé's, and Chloé froze. Too late, she realized that she had been staring, and that Adrien was saying something to Nino and getting up. He jogged over to her, and Chloé wondered whether he was aware of the fact that the eyes of Nino, Alya, and Marinette followed his every step.

"Hey Chlo," Adrien said brightly, flashing her that heart-stopping, sweet smile that had made approximately half of Paris fall in love with him. Chloé steeled herself and gave him a small smile in return.

"Hi Adrien. Don't take this the wrong, but - what are you doing here?" she asked. Adrien hadn't attended school in weeks, and it wasn’t hard to guess why.

"I'm here for school," he said, with a bit of smirk, and Chloé rolled her eyes again.

"You know what I mean," she said, wrapping her arms around herself so as not to visibly shiver. It was cold now that she'd stopped walking.

Adrien nodded, his smile fading. "My father and I had a huge fight after I got home yesterday," he admitted, adjusting the green hat he was wearing. "I told him I need to slow things down a little bit. He's got me working a full time schedule and between that and my other lessons, juggling school is getting to be impossible."

"How did he take that?" Chloé said, apprehensive but impressed. She never would have guessed that Adrien would stand up to Gabriel like that.

"He was pissed, and he threatened to pull me out of school entirely. But I said that if he did I’d stop going to tutoring, and I pointed out to him that it wouldn't look very good if his own son flunked out of school. There wasn't much he could say to that. And then this morning, I just got up and left before anyone else was awake."

Adrien shrugged like all of that meant nothing, but there was a spark burning in his eyes that Chloé hadn't seen there for a very long time. She studied him curiously, realizing that her earlier thoughts might have been wrong and that she might need to reassess this situation. Once the initial anguish had passed, it seemed like finding out about Ladybug's betrayal had fired Adrien up rather than making him an inconsolable mess. That was both surprising and refreshing.

“Good for you,” she said at last. “I’m proud of you, Adrien.”

Adrien’s eyes widened a bit, and he paused to swallow before saying hoarsely, “Thanks. It was nerve-wracking, but – I think I needed to say it.”

“I think you did too,” Chloé said softly. Now if only Chat Noir could tell Ladybug off too, that would be perfect. But in many ways, Chat talking to Ladybug was even harder than Adrien talking to Gabriel.

“So – so yeah.” Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know what’ll happen later, but I’m determined to make it to school at least four days a week for the rest of the year.”

“Well, I’m sure your friends are happy about it,” Chloé said. Marinette, Alya, and Nino were still staring. Alya was whispering to Nino now, and it didn’t take a genius to guess that she was probably trying to get Nino over here to get Adrien away from Chloé.

Not that Chloé could blame them. Last week, Adrien would’ve wanted that to happen too. In fact, it had been years since he’d talked to Chloé at school. She could appreciate the growing confusion amongst his friends. They probably thought something was seriously wrong for Adrien to be over here like this.

“Yeah, they are.” Adrien glanced over his shoulder with a smile that turned to a frown when Nino and Alya both started gesturing frantically at him. Marinette didn’t, but she shot a look that could kill in Chloé’s direction.

“I think they want your attention,” Chloé said. “I’m going to head inside. I’m freezing.”

“Do you mind if come with you?” Adrien asked. He turned back towards her, and Chloé belatedly realized he was wearing the jacket she’d bought for him. It looked good on him, but it was definitely a change from his usual sleek, tailored, Gabriel-style jacket.

“Uh – sure?” Chloé said, blinking in surprise. What was going on with Adrien today? Why was he here talking to her? She really wanted to ask him about it bluntly, but she couldn’t do that when other people were clearly eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Great, just let me grab my backpack.” He turned and jogged back to the picnic table. Chloé was treated to Alya jumping to her feet and whispering furiously to Adrien. If Chloé had to guess, Alya was probably demanding to know what Adrien was doing talking to Chloé.

Which, like, it really wasn’t any of Alya’s business. If that were Chloé, she would have shut Alya down by telling her as much. She half-expected Adrien to given in though, and sit back down with them. But he didn’t. He said something to Alya and then grabbed his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder as he strolled back to Chloé, leaving Alya looking on with a frown.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t sit back down with them?” Chloé asked as Adrien neared.

“Nah. Sometimes Alya can be a lot first thing,” Adrien confided. He sighed. “She’s also talking about some new stuff she wants to do for the Ladyblog. I don’t really want to hear about that right now.”

Chloé nodded slowly, watching him out of the corner of her eye as they entered the building. Was that why Adrien had approached her today, because he needed an escape from Alya’s Ladyblog talk? That did make sense, even if it was also a little disappointing for reasons he didn’t want to examine too closely.

They made their way to their classroom. This year, Chloé was yet again in the same class as Adrien and Alya. The only saving grace was that she was also in the same class as Sabrina. However, Marinette, Nino, and most of their other friends had ended up in other classes. Most of the time, that meant Chloé was without a seatmate since their last names – Agreste and Bourgeois – had her and Adrien sitting together.

Adrien swung into his seat like he’d been there every single day and sighed, rolling his shoulders back. Chloé looked at him hesitantly, then glanced at the door. They were the first two people in the classroom. She moved over to the door and gently pushed it shut, giving them a little bit of privacy.

Then she said, “Adrien, what are you doing?”

“Huh?” Adrien looked up as he took his jacket off.

“You don’t have to –” Chloé paused, searching for the best way to finish that sentence.

You don’t have to pretend to be my friend.

You don’t have to pretend to like me.

You don’t have to pretend like Saturday night made a difference.

You don’t have to thank me for it by pretending.

No, she couldn’t say any of that. It was too pathetic, too embarrassing. But Adrien was looking at her curiously, waiting for her to finish, so she had to say something. Chloé fumbled a bit before finally settling on what she thought was the best answer.

“You don’t have to punish your friends for what Ladybug did,” she said finally. “I know you’re still upset, but – but that’s when you need your friends the most.”

For a moment, Adrien looked genuinely surprised by her words. Then his expression softened, and he flashed her that gorgeous smile again as he said, “That’s not what I’m doing. Or not what I’m trying to do. What happened this weekend made me realize that maybe some things need to change.”

That certainly tracked given Adrien’s fight with his father, but somehow Chloé still felt uneasy as she walked over to their desk. She said, “But then why aren’t you out there with them? You don’t have to be in here with me.”

“Maybe I want to be,” Adrien said simply, shrugging, like it was just that easy.

Chloé opened her mouth to respond and instead jumped when the door suddenly swung open with such force that it hit the wall and bounced off. Alya caught the door with her free hand as she scanned the room with narrowed eyes. It was immediately obvious that she thought she was going to come charging in here to find something happening. Instead, all she found was Chloé standing there about two feet away from the desk, and Adrien in the middle of taking his hat off. Both of them stared at her.

“Uh, hi Alya?” Adrien said, raising an eyebrow.

“Hi,” Alya said stiffly, frowning. She entered the room and walked over to her own desk, still darting suspicious looks at them. Her desk was across the aisle from Chloé, but thankfully Claude Caillet sat between Chloé Bourgeois and Alya Césaire, so Alya was in the next seat over.

It seemed that the conversation between her and Adrien was going to have to wait, then. It certainly wasn’t one they could have in front of Alya, and Chloé had the sneaking suspicion that if she and Adrien went anywhere else in the school, Alya, Marinette, or Nino would conveniently pop up there too. No, the matter was best dropped for now, frustrating as that was.

She set down her backpack and took off her own coat. By the time she’d sat down, more kids were coming in anyway. Sabrina waved as she entered hand-in-hand with her boyfriend, Louis. Chloé smiled and gave her a little wave back. They climbed the steps to the back of the room just as their teacher entered. Chloé sighed, yanked out her math book, and – though it was easier said than done – tried to switch her brain from Adrien to math.

Chapter Text

Adrien paced back and forth in front of his window, feeling nervous. It had been over a week since he’d gone patrolling, which meant it had been over a week since he’d seen Ladybug. Hawkmoth had been mercifully quiet lately, which worked in Adrien’s favor for once. He still didn’t feel ready to see Ladybug, but he also knew that he couldn’t put it off forever.

“Just don’t go,” Plagg said from where he was watching this pacing happen from Adrien’s pillow. “Feed me cheese and come climb into bed instead. You can keep cyber stalking Chloé for a while, and then go to bed early.”

“I do not cyber stalk Chloé,” Adrien muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. He contemplated Plagg’s offer for a few seconds. It did sound tempting.

But he was a little worried about Hawkmoth sending out an akuma. He didn’t think it would be a good idea to see Ladybug for the first time during an akuma attack. Things would feel too awkward and weird between them, especially if Rena was there too – and he was certain that she would be. Rena was at every akuma attack now without fail. Now that he knew Ladybug and Rena knew each other’s identities, it made sense as to why Ladybug had given her the Fox miraculous to keep.

But it still bugged him. A lot. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, messing up the gelled strands. No, he couldn’t stay here tonight. This was bothering him too much. He needed to at least see Ladybug, even if he had no idea what he would say to her when he saw her.

“Sorry, I need to go. Plagg, claws out!”

Chat Noir climbed up onto the window frame and jumped, his momentum easily carrying him over the gate to the rooftops on the other side. He started out with a slow job, scanning the skyline for Ladybug. When transformed, he could see much further and much more clearly than your average human. So he eventually caught sight of Ladybug in the distance.

She was alone, Chat noted with genuine surprise as he neared. He glanced around, expecting to see Rena Rouge somewhere nearby, but there was no sign of the unmistakable bright orange suit. Maybe Rena was off patrolling somewhere then, he surmised, and Ladybug had gotten back first. Sometimes that happened. Ladybug could be pretty fast when she was motivated. Well, that worked for him.

He landed on the rooftop and Ladybug turned quickly, her blue eyes widening when she caught sight of him. Chat met her gaze and waited for it: waited for that familiar rush of love and affection and excitement that always left him breathless when he was around Ladybug.

But it never came.

“Hi Chat,” Ladybug said softly. “I was hoping you’d come out tonight.”

“Yeah, I know I missed a few nights. Been busy,” Chat said, shrugging. He purposely did not apologize. He was through making excuses and apologizing for things that he genuinely could not help or change.

Ladybug nodded, biting her lip nervously. It was chilly out tonight, and her cheeks were flushed. She said, “How have you been?”

“Alright,” Chat said, a little curious to see where she was going with this. “Where’s Rena?”

She flinched a bit at the name. “I asked her not to come,” she admitted. “I wanted the chance to talk with you, just the two of us. And I – I wasn’t sure if you would come if you saw her here. I kind of got the feeling you don’t like Rena very much.” She wrung her hands nervously.

“It’s not that I don’t like her,” Chat said. He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. Because that was the truth. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Rena. She was a very nice, if somewhat nosey, girl. And he had to give credit where credit was due, she was very reliable. Being a part of the miraculous team was clearly very important to her. He felt a tiny bit guilty that she was missing patrol.

But only a little, because his real problem here wasn’t with Rena at all, it was with Ladybug and the fact that she was so comfortable being open with someone else. They’d been partners for years now, but still Ladybug wouldn’t talk to him. Chat knew basically nothing about her. She still went out of her way to be cagey about something as simple as her favorite color.

“Then – it’s the fact that she knows, isn’t it?” Ladybug said quietly, her hands falling to her sides. “Tikki thought that might be it.”

“How could it not be?” Chat said, trying hard not to sound as accusatory as he wanted to.

Ladybug bit her lip again. Then she said, “You have to understand. Rena is my friend behind the mask. I mean, I know her as a civilian. That’s why I trusted her as Rena Rouge to begin with.”

“I already knew that,” Chat said irritably. Or at least, he had guessed that was the case. It would be unlike Ladybug to give a miraculous to a stranger, so he’d assumed that other miraculous holders were her friends. It was a somewhat lonely feeling, knowing that she was surrounded by friends while he was, as always, alone.

She frowned, his tone annoying her, but said, “Well, I’m just clarifying. I had no intention of telling her who I am. It just sort of – happened one day. I was upset. I was having a hard time.” She dropped her gaze. “She comforted me, and it just... came out.”

Chat didn’t say anything for a moment. On the one hand, he could easily envision how that had happened. He was the first to admit that Ladybug had a lot on her shoulders as the Guardian. Why Master Fu had chosen Ladybug, and only Ladybug, was a question that Chat would never get an answer to, even though it bothered him every day. He and Ladybug could have shared this burden, but apparently Chat wasn’t good enough in Master Fu’s eyes for that.

But regardless, Ladybug had a lot on her shoulders. What little she’d revealed about her civilian life suggested that she was very busy on that side too. She frequently talked about feeling stressed out and feeling like she had too much to do and very little time to do it in. So it wasn’t hard to see how she would have cracked, and how she might have needed some reassurance.

On the other hand, however, he was right here. Why couldn’t she rely on him instead? He’d begged her to confide in him, and still she just wouldn’t. Hadn’t he proven himself as her partner? Hadn’t he showed her that he would be there for her no matter what happened? Hadn’t he shown her that he could keep a secret? Why wasn’t that enough?

This was his fault, he thought sadly, studying Ladybug’s earnest face. He had built their partnership up in his mind as being a much bigger deal than it clearly was. It mattered far more to Chat than it did to Ladybug. To Ladybug, they weren’t partners. Chat was just a teammate who helped her to deal with akumas. She clearly trusted those who didn’t have to hide behind a mask far more than him.

“I’m not upset that you told her,” Chat said finally. “Well, I mean, I kind of am. After all this time, I really don’t understand why you still don’t trust me.”

Ladybug tensed, her eyes shooting up. “I trust you!”

“Really?” Chat said, raising an eyebrow.

“You know why we can’t exchange identities. I’ve told you before, it’s too dangerous,” Ladybug said.

“But not too dangerous to tell Rena Rouge?” he pressed, and she frowned.

“Rena is different,” she said. “There are things that I can’t tell you, Chat. But I wish you would believe me when I say that keeping our identities a secret from each other is vitally important.”

How could he believe her when she kept so many secrets from her? Chat had trusted in Ladybug for so long. He’d accepted it when she told him over and over that she couldn’t tell him anything. All that time, he had asked for nothing in return. For the first time, he really saw how unbalanced their relationship was. Ladybug took and took and took, but gave nothing in return. He didn’t think she did it on purpose, but the end result was still the same.

And quite frankly, Chat was exhausted. He was tired of people taking from him all the time. It was all his father did. It was all that Ladybug did. He just didn’t have any more to give.

He murmured, “So you say” and watched her expression change. She was frustrated now. It always bothered her when he wouldn’t just take her word for it.

“We’ve been partners for years. You really think I’d lie to you now?” Ladybug demanded.

“You did lie to me, sort of. You didn’t tell me that you told Rena,” Chat said, allowing a little hurt to seep into his voice, and watched Ladybug wince, her ire draining away.

“I didn’t mean to. I wanted to tell you. I just wasn’t sure how. I didn’t think that Rena would say anything in front of you.” Ladybug sighed. Chat, watching her, wondered if she was upset because she’d hurt his feelings, or if she was upset that Rena had spoken unthinkingly and let the cat out of the bag.

He knew Ladybug better than she thought he did. He knew she preferred to ignore potential problems in the hopes that they would miraculously – sometimes literally – resolve on their own. He couldn’t prove it, but he was pretty sure that she’d hoped that Rena would never say anything, and that Chat would never find out. Then she wouldn’t have to deal with it. That stung.

“I wish you would have told me. I would have rather heard it from you,” Chat said bluntly. And he also wished that she’d told him earlier. Knowing that they knew each other’s identities added a lot of much-needed context to the relationship between Ladybug and Rena.

“I should have told you,” Ladybug agreed, nodding. But he noticed that she didn’t apologize, and he realized that she wasn’t sorry for any of it. The only thing she was sorry about was that he’d found out at all. Her life was easier and less complicated when Chat didn’t know. He wondered how hard of a time she’d given Rena Rouge for breaking the news.

“You should have,” Chat said, quieter now, and she nodded again.

“So... are we okay now?” she asked tentatively.

What would she say if he said no? It was the first thought that crossed his mind. He studied her for a moment. Her hair, longer now than it was when they were younger, still tied into two low pigtails against her neck. Her skin, flushed from either the cold or frustration or both. Her lovely, captivating bright blue eyes, staring back at him. He knew the answer she wanted.

“I guess,” Chat said. “But you should know that someone knows who I am too.”

She wasn’t expecting that. Her eyes widened. “What?! Chat, are you crazy? How could you be so irresponsible as to let someone find out?!”

“Excuse me?” Chat said. “It’s okay for you to get overwhelmed and let it slip, but not me?”

“I can trust Rena! I know she would never betray me!” Ladybug said.

“Well, I trust my friend too,” Chat replied, his ire rising. Ladybug was being a total hypocrite. Why was it okay for her to need support from a trusted friend, but it wasn’t okay for him?

“But I don’t trust them,” Ladybug shot back.

“So you’re the only person who can decide if someone is trustworthy?” Chat snapped. “This is exactly what I mean when I say you don’t trust me, by the way. If you trusted me, you’d recognize that maybe I wouldn’t just tell any old stranger off the street. I’m not stupid.”

Ladybug opened her mouth and then seemed to think better of it, pressing her lips together into a thin line. She was upset. She didn’t like that. Chat would have put down money that she was dying to shake the truth out of him; she wanted to know who he’d told. But she couldn’t do that, because knowing that person’s identity might (would definitely) lead her to Chat’s identity.

And the thing was that as the guardian now, she could demand to know Chat’s identity at any point. He found it odd that she had never brought that up. Ladybug was well within her rights to demand to know his identity while still keeping her own a secret. Maybe she thought he wouldn’t handle it well. Or maybe she’d somehow convinced herself that it wasn’t necessary. Maybe she was rethinking that, right now.

Ladybug visibly inhaled deeply and then exhaled. In a strained voice, she said, “Okay then. We both had a moment of weakness and slipped. I guess that makes us even. But in the future, we can’t let that happen anymore. Got it?”

“Got it,” Chat said. He couldn’t imagine telling anyone else anyway. The only other person he would maybe tell was Nino, but that didn’t sit right with him. Nino was a great friend, but Chat couldn’t imagine telling him something so personal.

“Good.” Ladybug took another deep breath. “Please make sure your friend knows not to tell anyone.”

“They know,” Chat said simply. Chloé had lost the Bee miraculous because she hadn’t kept her identity a secret. He was pretty sure that it had been a harsh lesson for her.

What would it have been like if she’d never told everyone who she was? Chat lost a moment or two, pondering that. Say what you want about Chloé Bourgeois, but she’d been a natural miraculous holder. She’d deftly wielded the bee like she’d had it from day one. Ladybug and Chat had floundered at first with their miraculous, but Queen Bee had never seemed to have that problem.

It would have been really nice to have Queen Bee around now, Chat thought. Somehow, he thought that he and Queen Bee would still have known each other identities eventually. And he would have been able to lean on Queen Bee when things were hard with Ladybug, or when Ladybug and Rena Rouge were closing him out, or when he was feeling particularly overwhelmed and lonely.

And being a miraculous holder would have been good for Chloé too, giving her a team to rely on. She and Chat would have reconnected much earlier than now. Chloé would’ve had friends and a reason to try to be a better person. She would’ve had a purpose outside of trying to get Audrey Bourgeois to recognize her. She would’ve had a reason to realize how special she was.

It was strange, how much he longed for something that would never be.

“Okay, fine.” Ladybug crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t really feel like patrolling anymore. I think I’m just going to head home.”

“I’ll make a quick loop around on my way home,” Chat said.

“Alright. See you later,” she said.

“Bye Ladybug,” Chat said, lifting his hand in a wave, and she tossed him a half-wave back as she spun and threw her yoyo out. It caught, the line went taut, and she was launched off the rooftop. Chat watched her go, but not with longing as he might have once. Because one thing had irrevocably crystallized for him tonight. The rose-colored glasses with which he’d always regarded Ladybug had been shattered. He might still love her, but he was no longer in love with her.

She was no longer his lady.