Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Volpina Episode: Flashback

“I know many, many famous people in Hollywood,” Lila exclaimed loudly, causing excitement in many of her new classmates except for one.

“I can't believe they’re all falling for this! It's so unbelievable it's laughable,” Marinette growled, clutching a pencil in her fist so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

“Honestly girl, is it so hard to believe that someone like Lila could be so impressive,” Alya questioned. “I don’t think we should judge a book by its cover and she does seem pretty reputable considering she knows Ladybug and Chat Noir”.

“But that's the thing! She-”, Marinette bit her lip to cut herself off. There was no way to prove Lila was wrong, especially not as a civilian. Who is she to know that Lila wasn’t besties with Ladybug? Well, obviously she was Ladybug, but her friends didn't know that.

“Who else do you know?” Rose asked excitedly.

“Oh you know, plenty of American stars and designers like…” Lila trailed off before smirking, “oh the l/n’s.”

“Woah you’re friends with the l/n’s?!” The class erupted with everyone asking questions.

L/n. An elusive American celebrity family. At the head was F/n L/n. A fashion designer, previously the creative director to Balenciaga and now the owner of his own Avant-garde fashion line. The eldest son, 18 year old  B/n. Tall, gorgeous, and mysterious. Never really pictured anywhere unless he showed face with his family at a fashion event or the occasional paparazzi picture around his college if caught off guard. Lastly, 14 year old y/n. While she occasionally modeled for her fathers’ work, she usually spent her time at the New York Academy of Ballet. No one really knew the nitty-gritty details of the family.

The father was a fashion genius. The kids are gorgeous. And ever since their mother died a decade ago, the family stayed mostly out of the public view.

“Oh my gosh! I am, like, besties with y/n. And I briefly dated her brother, but I broke up with him for the sake of our friendship,” Lila pouted and the class dramatically awed, praising her for her “sacrifice”.

“Do you think you could introduce us?” A new voice cut through the crowd and everyone turned to see who spoke. Nino stood grinning with one hand on his hip and the other wrapped around the shoulders of a bashful looking blonde. “Adrien is a huge fan of-”

“NINO!” The boy exclaimed, blood rushing to his face and creating a pink cue across his cheeks in embarrassment. He cleared his throat and laughed before nervously scratching his arm. “I just… really like F/n’s work.”

“You mean you like-” Nino started again before Adrien cut him off with a look that screamed “please do not embarrass me right now”.

Lila sits her chin in her hand gracefully before looking up at the boys through her lashes. “I could but y’know, they're not really the biggest fans of… fans.” 

Adrien lowered his gaze a bit. It was subtle, but enough for people to see that he was disappointed. 

“The best way to meet them is through a work event, but they never really go to that either,” Lila continued, walking towards Adriend before placing a hand on his chest. “I could put in a good word with you to y/n, but just so you don’t get your feelings hurt in the future - blondes aren’t really her type.”

“That's not what- I mean I’m not,” Adrien sputtered out. “I’m not interested in her like that. I don’t even know her!”

“That's not what you said last-”

“NINO!!!”

Chapter Text

Stormy Weather Pt 2

You stared out the window, taking in the city you will call home for the next few months. Your long, nimble fingers fiddling with the string of your hoodie. 

“Sooooo are you excited to start dancing in Paris?” A deep voice cut through your daydream. Turning your head to the left, you made eye contact with your brother and temporary chaperone. “You’re going to go to regular school as well. Ballet school is going to take up half your week and the other half you will be attending school at Collège Françoise Dupont”.

“I’m really excited to dance, less excited to go to school with a bunch of strangers I can’t even be friends with for the long term,” you sighed. It was true. You were only going to be in Paris for a few months before you had to return to New York. You were looking forward to this new start. Where these new Parisian kids will not know the extent of your family’s hardship. 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Y/n. Even if you make no friends, at least you’re only staying for a bit!”

Before you could give a retort on how your brother's statement was not moving in the slightest, the ground began to shake.

“What the actual-”

You two watched out the window, jaws dropped, as a volcano started emerging from the cobbled sidewalk of Paris. Right. Paris has villains and heroes. A sigh escaped your lips just as a voice spoke from behind your ear.

“Why don’t you escape and go join the action,” a small, yet gruff voice spoke from your hair. A small brown bear kwami nestled himself in your long h/c hair and jacket hood.

“Mato, we’re too new we can't,” you whispered back, her eyes still glued on this crazy volcano. This was way different from the vigilante work you were used to in New York. Before you could speak another word, the street started rumbling again and a big hand gripped onto your bicep. Your head whipped around, eyes meeting the worried ones of your brother.

“C’mon we gotta go! Our driver already dipped!” 

Your eyes glanced over to the driver's seat and just enough the door was open with the seat empty. Coward! You nodded before shuffling out of the car and running. Pace in pace with B/n, you two ran through the volcanic streets of Paris. People were screaming in the background and running away from the mess. Above your head, a red and black figure zipped through the air, followed by a figure in all black. 

“Oh my god I’m not meant for this,” You screamed out as you ran. Your brother didn't even look back at you as they continued to run, eventually getting separated by the growing masses that were also trying to run away from the scene. The ground started to shake again, rolling cobblestone as if it was water beneath your feet. Suddenly the people in front of you looked back and started screaming. Your eyes widened in fear as she suddenly realized the car was hurling towards you. But before you could even blink, you were pulled away from the action. You didn’t even want to think about it as you were suddenly flying through the air. Eyes closed in fear to look at what was even happening you screamed, “what the fuck!!”

“Please don’t scream in my ear while I’m saving you!” A male's voice speaks into her ear as they land on the roof of a building. You tentatively opened your eyes, meeting a pair of concerned yet mischievous forest green ones. 

“What the fuck.”

“O-oh uhm not French? I’m a uhhh superhero? Do not be scared?” The boy mumbled out in English with a thick French accent.

“I-I can speak French!” You stuttered out, still held in the superheroes arms. His eyes widened and an unfamiliar look crossed his face as he set you down gracefully.

“Well hello, ma chérie,” the cat hero purred out. “I don’t think I’ve ever saved an American before. Much less one as pretty as you.”

Slightly shocked at his flirtatious nature, you raised an eyebrow in concern. “You’re Chat Noir, right?”

“Ah, so you've heard about me,” he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. The blonde made a move to kiss your fingers, but missed as you swiftly retracted your hand from his.

“None of that. Thank you for saving me but do you not have a job to finish?”

“Ah,” the boy had a look of realization flash across his face as he looked back at the giant volcano. “I guess I just got too distracted by a pretty stranger.” 

You started to sputter and fix your now messy hair, face reddening in embarrassment. Before you could give a retort, the blonde turned his body back towards the action, giving you one last look back and wink before using his pole to catapult him away.

“I hope to see you around Y/n!”

“What the-” Your hand crossed your chest, clutching the fabric of your hoodie over your heart as you watched the hero disappear into the distance.

“How did that cat even know your name,” Mato’s voice spoke from behind you.

“Oh my god,” you breathed out, speechless from everything that just happened.

“And you weren't even concerned if I was ok!”

“Well obviously you were!”

“Shut up. It’s the principle.”

Chapter Text

Animaestro

You haven't even started school and you have to go to an event. 

You were not happy about this in the slightest. You were welcomed to Paris by an akumatized villain and a weird, but attractive, cat superhero. You were able to be reunited with your brother after Ladybug restored the city, and he was able to get you guys to your new apartment swiftly.

It was a 4 bedroom apartment in a fancy part of the city. A luxury apartment building with its own 24-hour security, very on brand for your father. The apartment was large enough for both of them to get 2 rooms to themselves. While B/n chose to turn his extra room into a glorified closet, you chose to turn yours into a studio, somewhere you kept all your ballet and music supplies. Your bedroom was huge as well, with an en suite bathroom and nearly walk in closet. However, the room felt empty as it had very little decor. Noticing that there was only furniture filling the room, you made a mental note to decorate it later in the week before you started school.

Back to the present matter, though. A movie premiere, really? B/n wanted to hobnob with the locals while you just wanted to unwind in your new bedroom and hang out with your built-in best friend.

“I think that you should just go,” the small bear flew in circles around your head. “You might make a new friend or some fun connections. At the very least you’ll see a cool movie.”

“You’re right Mato,” you sighed. “It’s just that I just got here and I was hoping that I could at least keep the nepo-baby related stuff alone.”

“But! You could just go with B/n, dress up, watch a fun movie, eat some fun snacks, and then go home. No hobnobbing, just snacks and a show!”

You groaned, dragging your hands across your face before sitting down to do your makeup. Once you were done getting ready you then looked at yourself in the mirror. Your hair was flowing down your back in a loose braid. Your eyeliner was simple with just a dark glossy lip as an accent, but large black contacts gave you the look of a doll. You wore a simple black corset dress with a ruffled, drop waist midi skirt. A silver circular brooch pinned over your heart, standing out amongst the black fabric. Brightly colored tights with a spiral design covered your legs and you wore a pair of black Ganni buckle ballerina flats on your feet. Simple, yet still in the L/n style. 

“Y/n! Are you ready yet?” A voice called from the hall.

“Yeah, I am!” You shouted back before facing your kwami, “How do I look?”

“Brilliant! But don’t forget a coat!”

“Ah you’re right,” you looked around before grabbing your black Liz Lisa poncho, throwing it around your shoulders.

“Y/n, let's try to leave sometime this year!”

“Oh my god, I’m coming,” frustration filled your voice slightly as you grabbed your purse from a hook and stepped out the door, meeting with your brother. The man wore what appeared to be a simple suit, just a little low cut. But as the man turned around to leave, he showed off his exposed back, satin ribbon tying the back of the suit almost as if it were a corset. 

“You look like a slut.”

“Oh my god shut the fuck up,” the man groaned as the entered the elevator. “This is the suit dad sent me off with! If you have a problem you can ask that man about his creative vision. Plus, you're one to talk. You literally look like an alien right now.”

“I think I look like a fun alien doll! Maybe you just don’t understand fashion.”

“I don’t understand fashion!?”

The siblings bickered in the car all the way to the hotel where the premiere was being held. The amount of paparazzi outside the hotel was honestly astounding for what was definitely a small movie premiere. As the door to the car opened, cameras started flashing at an astounding speed.

“An appearance from the L/n children!” The reporter near the entrance shouted. 

B/n led you with a gentle hand through the crowd before stopping at a group of reporters who immediately started shouting questions.

“Who are you wearing? How long will you be in Paris? Why are you in Paris?”

All these French questions made your head spin as your brother started cooly answering questions.

“We are in Paris because my lovely sister has been to dance ballet at a local school and I am here as a chaperone as our father could not come with us. We ask for privacy for the duration of our stay in Paris.”

“Will you be modeling for Gabriel Agreste while you’re here B/n?”

“Most likely not. I appreciate and respect his work, but I am trying to spend this time with my sister.” B/n was always the one who spoke at these interviews, while you simply gripped onto his arm tucked behind him. B/n graciously thanked them for the interview before speed walking into the venue. After giving your coats to the check in desk, he rushed you two into a corner, grabbing your shoulders and giving you a stern look.

“Do you even know Gabriel Agreste?”

“No. Will you be ok alone while I hobnob,” he asked in a completely serious tone.

You almost laughed in his face. “I will be fine. Please, go hobnob with the French. You’ll be a fun exotic thing for them.”

B/n doesn’t even dignify your retorts with a response as he just rolled his eyes and turned on his heel. Meanwhile, you don't even make it ten steps in before almost getting bulldozed over by a girl holding a wobbly tray of macaroons. 

“Augh! I am so sorry!” a voice speaks from behind the mountain of pastries. You looked down and the two made eye contact and the strange girl's bluebell eyes suddenly widened in a panic. “Oh my god! Y/n L/n! I mean- I’m so sorry! I didn't realize I almost ran into you !”

“Oh my gosh, it's ok,” You reassured the girl. “I am not going to kill you for almost running into me. You didn't even touch me.”

Marinette’s eyes glanced up and down, taking in your unusual yet fashionable appearance.

“I-I’m Marinette! I like your outfit, you look like an alien,” her eyes widened before rushing out another apology. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like-!”

“Ah that's exactly what I was going for, thank you.” You laughed, surprising Marinette. She could've sworn the news outlets claimed that you were always so cold. “May I take one?”

“Sorry what?” Marinette chirped in confusion.

“Uhm a macaroon? May I take one?”

“Oh haha of course! You are a guest of course!”

You laughed a little again before taking a macaroon. “Thank you, I’ll see you around.”

You munched on a macaroon as you walked around the lobby. In the corner of your eye you could spot B/n laughing it up with some French model mutuals he had on Instagram. Suddenly, the paparazzi at the entrance began to erupt again. Through the doors, a blonde boy and a posh looking woman in a suit enter through the door. You watched as the drama unfolded when three girls, one of which was the girl you met just moments ago, crowded the boy, arguing for a bit before a girl in a Japanese kimono grabbed onto his arm and walked away with him. 

God. Were the Parisians this openly dramatic?

You continued to wander around aimlessly, now macaroon-less. 

“Don't you have anything better to do than walk around aimlessly?” Mato spoke to you from your shoulder purse. 

“No, I don't. And I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. People will think that I’m crazy,” you whispered, trying not to move your mouth too much as you looked down into your purse pretending to search for something. All of a sudden you ran into yet another person. You and the stranger collide with a grunt before stumbling back simultaneously. Your eyes focus on his face as the boy's face erupted in pink. “Ah geez, I'm sorry! You're, like, the second person I’ve run into today.”

The boy only stared, mouth gaping open and closed like a fish, much to the displeasure of the Japanese girl attached to him. Just then two girls - Marinette and a new blonde - burst into the interaction. 

Before anyone could speak, an akumatized man burst through the doors, wreaking havoc amongst the attendees of the premiere. In a blink, both Marinette and the blonde boy had disappeared, leaving you with the two girls who quickly bolted to save themselves. Once again you find yourself alone at the scene of a villain. Great. 

“Now is it time to try and transform? At least to save yourself?” Mato’s voice cut through the havoc.

You gave a silent nod to the kwami before running off, finding a pile up of tables to hide under before transforming. 

“Mato, awaken!”

The kwami got sucked into the pin on your chest as your body was engulfed in a golden light, transforming you into your superhero form. The tips of your long hair turned a chocolate brown. Little bear ears sat on the top of your head and a chocolate brown body suit covered your body. Her chest had a tuft of light brown fur sitting on it, slightly masking her miraculous pin. Your feet donned a pair of furry boots that looked like paws, with claws made of metal, and your hands had gauntlets on which also had metal claws meant for slashing and climbing. The suit was finished off with a chocolate brown mask with a black nose. 

“Ok, time to make my debut.”

Chat Noir and Ladybug were battling it out with Animaestro in the sewer system. Gross. You crouched on the roof of a nearby building, observing the two’s fighting style and trying to gauge whether or not they needed help. Suddenly, Animaestro had the two on their backs and you took this as an opportunity. Jumping off the roof and straight into the sewers, you landed with a thud before swiftly knocking the villain back with your large gauntlets. 

“Let's lighten up on the heroes, shall we?”

Animaestro, knocked onto his ass and caught off guard, scrambled to get up, quickly retreating and likely planning his next move once recollected. You smirked before a thin string wrapped around your body, spinning you around to face the suspicious looking heroes.

“Who are you!?” Ladybug demanded, a stern yet cautious look on her face. Chat Noir had a similar expression, but his was laced with a spark of interest.

“Ah, I'm an American hero!” You gave the heroes a lopsided grin. “Mostly on my vigilante shit, but it seemed like you guys were in a bit of a pickle.”

“How do we know you’re not a sentimonster?”

“What the fuck is a sentimonster?”

The two heroes exchanged glances before the string loosened up. 

“So, who are you?” Chat Noir asked.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” You tsked. “How about we fight now and talk story later?”

The heroes exchanged another glance. What odd lingo. They caught the bear hero up with the information they had gathered. Stop the villain without watching him. Easier said than done. 

In the end, Chat Noir is the one who managed to free the akuma, using his cataclysm to destroy the mask. Ladybug threw her lucky charm into the air and you watched in awe as glowing ladybugs spread throughout the city, fixing the damages done by the battle and restoring the akumatized man to his original glory. 

“Pound it!” You turned around to see the two heroes fist bumping, grinning as they looked into each other's eyes. Not wanting to watch the slightly intimate moment, you turned around, digging your feet into the ground and preparing to launch yourself into the air. 

“Wait!” Chat Noir shouted, separating himself from Ladybug to step towards you. “What is your name?”

You let out a hearty laugh before looking over your shoulder to give the cat boy a mischievous stare.

“Wouldn't you like to know, Chaton.”

And with that you were gone, leaving a shocked Chat Noir and giggling Ladybug.

You returned to your hiding spot under the pile of tables away from the commotion surrounding the heroes.

“Mato, hibernate.”

Mato flew out of the pin, landing into your cupped hands.

“Not too bad for your first akuma!”

“I’m not used to fighting magical villains yet,” you frowned. “This is so much more different then the petty criminals I used to fight in New York.”

“Yes, but you're still learning. You learn quickly and have a great intuition. You didn’t even have to use your special power!”

“True. I-”

“Y/n!” Your brother's voice travels through the empty lobby followed by a couple security guards. B/n spotted you as you popped out from behind the tables and came running. “Oh my god I need to start taking better care of you!” 

He gave you a quick hug before tugging you away from your hiding spot. 

“We are going home now!”

“But we haven't even watched the movie!”

“It doesn’t matter! Wait here, I’m going to ask the valet where our driver is,” he replied exasperated, leaving you standing by the coat check desk alone.

“Leaving already?” A new voice spoke from behind. Turning around, you made eye contact with the same boy from before. His tousled dirty blonde hair complimented his tanned complexion perfectly. He wore a full black suit that fit him in all the right places and had a smile that was like the sun shined down on them. And his eyes. His eyes were a deep shade of forest green that shone with hidden interest. 

“Yes, my brother wants to leave. I don't think he feels safe after the attack…” You trailed off, glancing off to the side to watch your brother impatiently pacing outside before refocusing on the boy in front of you.

“I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I really did not mean to run into you. I was a bit preoccupied.”

“With your girlfriend?” You mused.

“What no!” The boy spat out quickly before backtracking. “I mean, she's just a family friend! I was showing her around as a courtesy.”

You bit your lip in an attempt to mask a smile, a hint of amusement crossing your face as the boy continued to talk.

“Y/n! The driver is here, let's go,” your brother called from outside before hopping into the car after the driver opened the door.

“I have to go goodbye.” You turned on your heel and promptly made your way outside. As you stepped into the car, you heard the boy call out, 

“wait what's your-”

His voice cut out with a slam of the door. 

“Who was that?” B/n asked, his tone masked in slight annoyance.

“Some guy I ran into earlier.”

“Oh?”

“No, I literally crashed into him.”

Chapter Text

The first day of school, at least for you. Everyone else at Collège Françoise Dupont started weeks ago. This simple fact was one that filled you with dread. You felt confident about your outfit. A black, off the shoulder, baggy sweater and a pair of simple black shorts. Under your shorts you wore tights with a [blank] pattern. It was a bit chilly today so instead of your usual shoes, you wore a pair of black, knee high bow uggs. Cute, comfortable, mostly normal save for the crazy tights. Enough to stand out, but not too much. You groaned for what seemed like the millionth time that morning.

“What's wrong now?!” B/n sat on your vanity chair, watching you check your reflection for the tenth time that minute. “You look fine. Everything will be fine. The driver is leaving in 15 minutes so you have to eat and go.”

“Oh shit.”

You began running away frantically, shoving food into your mouth before you had to get in the car. After bidding your brother farwell, you rushed down the stairs to jump into the car. 

“Good morning miss L/n.”

“Good morning sir.”

The drive to school was silent. The only thing saving you from crumbling from your anxieties was the music in her earbuds. Before you knew it though, the car had pulled up to the front of the school. 

“You will do great today Y/n!” Mato exclaimed from the pocket of your book bag. 

“I really don't have a choice.”

After stopping at the principal's office, you met with your new homeroom teacher. Miss Bustier explained the layout of her class schedule as you two made your way to her homeroom. As the teacher entered the classroom, she clapped her hands together, gaining the attention of the previously rowdy students. 

“Good morning class! Today we have a new student temporarily joining us from America. Will everyone please give a warm welcome to Y/n L/n.”

You walked in, your face half shielded by your hair. Tucking the locks behind your ear, you opened your mouth to say something before being cut to the chase.

“Like the Y/n L/n? Your dad is F/n L/n!!?” The class erupted into chaos. Miss Bustier was kind enough to let the class crowd and chat with you instead of their usual scheduled homeroom.

“Out of my way people!” A nasally voice cut through the crowd which parted like the red sea, revealing the same blonde girl from the premier trailed by a ginger girl in glasses. “I am Chloé Bourgeois, but you probably knew that. I am sooo excited to get to know all about you and your wonderful life in New York. Y’know my mom works in New York and-”

“It's nice to meet you guys,” You cut her off. “But I’m not staying long. Only a few months for ballet.”

“Oh we know,” a new voice cuts in. You turned your head to face a brown skinned boy in a red cap and glasses.

“You know?”

“Yea my buddy was watching your interview from the premier and- oof!” A harsh elbow to the side from his friend shut him up. As she glanced to the side, she made eye contact with a pair of green eyes.

“What my friend Nino was trying to say is that I was watching the premier interviews and saw your chaperone saying that you're here for ballet,” the blonde sent a glare to the boy, Nino, who bashfully laughed.

Your eyes narrowed, instilling a bit of anxiety in the blonde boy. “You look so familiar…”

The boy looked down in embarrassment and laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “Ah well I am on billboards and-”

“I met you at the premier.”

“Oh,” his face lit up in embarrassment. “Yes we did. I’m Adrien Agreste.”

“Well, it's nice to put a name to the face,” You smiled politely at the boy before turning back to your new classmates. “I’m honestly surprised you guys know my family. Mostly only people in the fashion industry know our name.”

“Are you kidding?!!” A feminine voice cuts through the crowd. A blue haired girl with pigtails rushed forward, stopping only a foot in front of you with sparkling eyes. “Your dad is like the name in avant garde fashion right now! Not only that, but he has led many great brands into the aesthetic they have today! He’s. A. Genius!”

“Marinette, stop bothering her!” A brown haired girl stepped forward, pulling the girl back a foot or two. “Sorry about that, she's just really passionate about fashion. I’m Alya, and this is Marinette.”

“Oh I’ve met her as well. The server girl from the premiere right?” 

“You remember me?” The girl gaped.

“Of course I do. You did almost run me over,” You teased. In actuality it was impossible for this girl to run her over. While the blue-nette stood at around 5' 2”, You stood at around 5' 6”, practically the same height as many of the boys in your class. 

“Come sit with us during free period girl. We’ll tell you all about Paris,” Alya exclaimed.

“Yeah we can all chill together. Get to know us better,” Nino grinned next to her before pushing Adrien forward to start walking.

Adrien gulped nervously. God he really wished he had Chat Noirs confidence right now as he walked almost shoulder to shoulder with the American girl. Thankfully, Americans love small talk and you started softly chatting with him as they walked behind the group towards the cafeteria. 

“So… You’re on billboards huh?” You teased him, causing a pretty pink hue to spread across his cheeks. “Am I supposed to know you already?”

“No! I only said that because a lot of the girls already knew me from that.” His face got even more red as he explained himself. “I’m actually glad you don’t know who I am. It makes being friends easier.”

“Oh are we friends now? And here I thought that you were one of my fans,” you looked up at him through your eyelashes. The boy looked like he was about to faint on the spot as you began laughing. “Oh my god I’m just teasing you! Man!”

The boy eased up instantly before nudging you playfully with his elbow. “Hey if anything you should be a fan of me!”

You two laughed together, unaware of a pair of blue eyes that kept glancing back at you guys in concern. 

“So is Kitty Section going to submit music for Bob Roth’s contest?” Alya questioned.

“I’m going to their band practice later to brainstorm video ideas,” Marinette said before turning to you. “Did you want to come? I can show you around Paris for a bit and introduce you to some of our other friends?”

“I would love to, Marinette. But I have to go to ballet after school and all of next week, that's the whole reason I'm even in Paris right now.” The rest of the group gave her a dejected look. “Maybe you guys can come over this weekend…”

This seemed to perk them up, excited at the notion of getting to visit the temporary Parisian home of the L/n siblings. Only one seemed even sadder at the invitation.

“I would love to but I doubt my father would let me,” Adrien sighed, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

“Dude, I’m sure your pops would let you go to her place! I mean she’s also from a famous family so it must be high security,” Nino exclaimed. “Plus you might be able to use the excuse of networking.”

The group clamored on, plotting a way to get Adrien to be able to hang out.

When the school bell rang, signifying the end of school. You didn’t even have time to bid your new friends goodbye before running to your car to take you to ballet. B/n already put your duffle bag in the backseat. Sliding into the back, you sat giddy with excitement. Ballet was your passion. Sure you loved music - it was one of those things that made life worth living - but dance, specifically ballet, was your thing. It’s been your thing. The dance form caused an immense amount of pain in your body, but an unimaginable amount of joy in your heart. As you walked into the building, you felt certain that this was going to be a great time.

__________

Adrien sat at home impatiently, waiting for his father to appear from his office. The click of heels on the marble floor alerted him as he shot up to greet his father.

“Natalie said you need to discuss something with me.”

His tone was always cold. Despite Adriens mothers disappearance, Gabriel retreated further into himself, staying at an arm's length away from his son and only remaining reminder of his beloved. Adrien prayed for the day that this man would be able to see him as the child who needed his father, not the model who furthered the family brand. 

“Father, I was wondering if I could go to my friend's house. It’s-”

“No.” Gabriel stated sharply before starting to turn on his heel.

“It's Y/n L/n’s house!” The boy rushed out desperately. His father paused.

“L/n?”

“Her and her brother are staying in the city! She invited me and some friends over to her apartment. It has a lot of security and I really want to go and hang out with her! Uh, and my other friends! Please father!” 

The boy looked up at his father with pleading eyes. 

“You may go-”

“Thank you father,” the boy rushed to go hug his dad but the man stopped him with his outstretched hand before handing his son a business card. “While you are there, please pass this off to B/n. It is important to build connections, even this young. B/n is a quickly rising star in the modeling world. It is best if you can make this connection sooner rather than later.”

Adrien would correct his father, but the excitement he felt overrode the need to. He ran up to give his father a hug but the man interrupted again.

“Don’t forget you have fencing practice later. It’ll be in a different location than usual since the instructor insisted on trial running a bigger practice space.”

“Of course father.” Adrien gave his father a quick hug before running to his room, jumping onto his bed and pulling out his phone to excitedly text his friends the good news.

Adrien: Guys my dad said I can go!

Nino: Right on!! 

Nino: So when are we going?

Alya: Guys

Alya: We forgot to ask for Y/n’s phone number

Nino: Oh. 

 Adrien: Oh.

The sudden cackling of his kwami pulled his gaze away from the phone. 

“I can't believe you got to meet your celebrity crush and she invited you to her house!”

“One, she's not my celebrity crush, I just think she's cool and her dad makes cool clothes. Two,” the boy paused before smiling bashfully, “I am actually excited to go to her place. This is the first time my father has let me go to a friend's house!”

“Why don’t you visit tonight,” Plagg suggested, wiggling his eyebrows. “We have patrol tonight but I don't see why we can't go on a little side adventure.”

“You want to go on an adventure?” Adrien questioned.

“To visit your crush.”

“She’s not my crush! And! I don’t even know where she lives.”

“You could probably find it, you stalker.”

“Hey!!!”

Chapter Text

Ballet was exhausting. Sweat dribbled down your forehead as you sat on the cold concrete floor. Despite your long hair being pulled up into a bun and the fact that you were wearing only a leotard and tights, you still find yourself overheated in the air conditioned studio. A girl and boy sat in a triangle shape with you, chatting mindlessly in French about how grueling this week's practice was. 

“What did you think?” the girl turned to you, “Did you find practice hard? It must have been harder compared to the American style.”

The boy sitting beside you grabbed your shoulders, shaking them lightly. “Hey don’t be mean to her! She’s trying her best!”

“I wasn’t being mean! I was simply asking a question based on my understanding of American Ballet schools!”

Yvonne crossed her arms as René laughed, continuously shaking your shoulders. Unlike most dancers their age, these two were incredibly friendly. The two bickered back and forth before the teacher called them all back up.

“You’re doing great though, don’t worry,” René smiled at you. 

“I’d say she has some work to do.” You two turned your heads to look at an annoyed looking brunette. 

“Celine buzz off would you?” René retorted, swiveling your body away from the girl. “She’s only being mean because she knows you're good. You're just being a little shy today cause you're new.”

While the boy's kind words touched your heart, there was something in the back of your mind that told you not to trust her. So for the rest of the practice, you tried to keep her out of your mind, dancing to your heart's content.

When class was finally let out, you chatted with the two that you had just made friends with, exchanging instagrams and numbers as you all put sweats on over your leotards and tights. The two trailed behind you happily as you left the building, chatting about how fun class will be now that they had a new friend. They were nice enough to wait on the sidewalk with you before they biked back home together. 

Your driver arrived not too long after. Your two new friends hugged you goodbye, laughing about how excited they were that you were in the city and that they would make sure you would have a great time at the ballet school. It really warmed your heart. Watching their forms become smaller as the car rode off towards the apartment complex, you smiled to yourself. 

Paris is turning out to be really fun.

Showering after an intensive dance class was always the best. Steam rolled out of the bathroom as you emerged, long hair still damp and skin glistening from the moisture. You slipped on a pair of spotted pajama shorts and a plain tank top. Goosebumps appeared on your arms as a gust of wind blew through the window. Paris was getting chilly, especially since it was relatively late in the evening. You quickly put on some black knee high socks and grabbed an oversized hoodie from the closet, slipping it over your head and letting its warmth engulf you. 

“Finally you're out!” Mato exclaimed. For a creature who lived for centuries, he was incredibly impatient. “First I’m in your bag all day and then I have to wait for you to take an hour long shower! And let me guess, you're too tired to even go out for a run.”

 “Mato please, another day I promise. I’m exhausted from this day and I think I’m just going to try and chill in my studio,” you begged the little bear. Before the kwami could respond, a loud thud from the balcony startled you both. 

“Mato go hide,” you whispered as you crept quietly towards the balcony doors. The windows of the door were covered  by a sheer cream curtain. The closer you got, the clearer the silhouette of the sudden visitor became. The outline of a boy with cat ears and a tail made you lose all caution. Stepping towards the door, you quietly slide it open and see Chat Noir perched on the balcony rail.

“So you just intrude on everyone's balcony in Paris?”

Your voice startled him, almost causing him to lose balance before whipping his head around to look at you. He looked shocked for a second before smirking and spinning around to face you. 

“Only the pretty ones.”

“Your flattery isn’t going to work on me Chat,” you snorted, leaning against the doorframe of the balcony entrance. The warm light of your bedroom backlit you, creating a warm, almost angelic, scene in the eyes of the hero. “What are you doing here? Was there an akuma while I was in the shower?”

Chat Noir smiled before jumping off the railing. “I was patrolling the area. There was an attack earlier but it was contained.”

“Patrolling,” you hum, “Well I have no pets so my home is always open to strays. Want to come in?”

You expected Chat Noir to make a flirty joke back but instead he just nodded with a spaced out look on his face. He went to walk forward before your outstretched hand pushed him back with your palm.

“This is a no-shoes house,” you state before pointing to his boots. “Can those come off?”

You knew the miraculous suit pieces could come off. You were a holder of course. But he didn't need to know that and you did want him to take his shoes off before he entered. Who knows where those dirty boots have been?

“Ah yea sorry,” Chat quickly took his boots off and you stepped to the side to let him in. He walked around your room for a bit, taking in the sight and scent. The room was mostly cream colored with dark hardwood flooring. A large bed with a canopy sat in the middle of the room with its headboard against the wall, a canopy draped over it to add some flair. With a deep inhale, he could smell your [favorite scent] scented perfume all over. Seeing Chat take in your room, you suddenly felt embarrassed by the lack of decorations. Furthermore, the realization just hit that you invited a random boy - albeit a hero - into your bedroom. 

“Sorry its so bland,” you blurted out. “I just moved and haven't had the time to decorate.” 

An idea suddenly crossed your mind.

“Do you want to hang out in my studio?”

This caught his attention. “Studio?”

You beckoned him to follow. Heading out your bedroom door, he barely got to see the living room in passing before entering into a different room. This room was different. One side of the room had a portable ballet barre against the wall. A bookshelf near it held an array of fake plants, shoe boxes, and books. On the opposite wall, there was a keyboard and a wide array of guitars and basses hanging. In the corner, there was a desk with what looked like a computer, a DJ set up, and a microphone.

“What is this?” He questioned, walking over to the desk to look at the set up more intensely. “Do you make music?”

“Ah I do but I don’t know… I think it's kind of… Corny?”

“Can I listen to something?”

“Oh my GOD no!” You wave your hands in the air frantically. “I mean, it's nothing against you but I feel like my music can be embarrassing.”

“I’m sure your music is great.” He said it with such sincerity, and with a smile that felt like the heavens were shining, that it made your face explode in red. The expression that you were making was funny and Chat Noir couldn't admit that he wasn't pleased that he made you feel this flustered. 

“I guess you could hear something,” you mumble, slightly fanning your face with one hand as the other starts to scroll on the computer. You finally find something that you think he might like and hand him a pair of headphones, not able to make eye contact. Chat is hyped. You, who is so mysterious to the public eye, is inviting him to listen to her original music. He put the headphone on and you pressed play. 

It wasn't what he was expecting, that's for sure. The electronic tone of hyperpop started playing through his headphones. Not expected,, but he liked it. Once the song was done, he took the headphones off.

“That was great, Y/n.”

His smile could kill you. It wasn't one of his goofy grins, it was a sincere smile with his eyes sparkling with an emotion unknown to you. 

“I want to make music,” you blurt out. “I love ballet, that's my first love. But if I ever aged out of ballet or found myself on a different path for some godforsaken reason, I would love to make music.”

“I think you should post this. It's honestly really great.”

“Maybe… I just don't know if I’m ready. One of my friends from home has been helping me produce but she's really good. I just don't-” A leather clad hand takes yours and you look up at him. 

“Don’t doubt yourself. I think your stuff was great.”

Oh god your heart couldn't handle it. You gripped onto his hand and started dragging him out of the studio and towards the balcony in your bedroom once again.

“Ok bye Chat Noir oh my gosh I am so tired!” You rush out as you pull him behind you, fake yawning for the extra effect.

“Hey but-” he lost his sentence when you turned to face him, your cheeks stained with pink.

“I think you should go. School tomorrow, long day, yknow…”

Chat felt dejected but understood, after all he wanted to see you tomorrow at school. As a friend. He put his boots on quickly so as to not linger longer than necessary. But before he could leave, your hand wrapped around his wrist causing him to look at you. 

“Thank you for the encouragement, Chat,” you didn't look him in the eye as you spoke but the emotion in your voice showed what your eyes didn't. Suddenly, he's pulled into a hug. But as quickly as he was in the hug, he was pushed away and out the door. “Ok goodnight Chat Noir!”

The door slammed closed in his face and he watched the silhouette of the girl run away and flop onto the bed. He couldn’t help a goofy grin from crossing his face as he turned to disappear into the night. 

Meanwhile, you are borderline screaming into a pillow. This was getting too close for comfort way too fast. 

“Y/n and Chat~ sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N–”

“MATO SHUT UP!”

Chapter Text

Oni-Chan

You fiddled with your hair in the mirror, tying it into its usual long braid. Meanwhile, Mato occupied himself on your vanity by rubbing his face aggressively against your boar bristle brush.

“Can you calm down Mato? You're going to get a rash,” you groaned.

“Kwamis can't get your silly human ailments. We’re magic, remember?” He sighed before turning over and doing snow angels on your poor brush. “I get why you brush your hair everyday. Humans can truly create some magical items.”

“I brush my hair everyday because I would have a rats nest on my head if I didn’t.”

You felt kind of plain today compared to your first day. You were wearing straight leg blue jeans and your favorite zip hoodie. A pair of beat up converse sneakers sat ready to go by your bedroom door. Back to your usual outfit. Slinging your backpack over your shoulders and grabbing your shoes, you were ready to go. You grabbed an apple sauce packet from the fridge before running to the elevator of your building. Why did you have to be running late almost everyday?

Once you arrived at school, you saw Alya and Marinette talking on the stairs. But instead of the usual happy expression on the blue haired girl's face, there was a look of utter frustration. 

“Hey girl!” Alya called out as you walked up to them. “You must be excited that your bestie is in class today?”

“I’m sorry who?”

“Lila Rossi? She said you guys were super close? And she dated your brother?”

A perturbed look crossed your face as you crossed your arms. What the fuck? Someone you didn’t even know, in a country you have never lived in, has been telling people that she is best friends with you AND dated your brother?

“Definitely not. I have never heard of Lila nor has she ever dated my brother! He would never even date someone our age. That's so weird. He's an adult!”

“I told you!” Marinette burst out,  her face flushed with anger. “I told you Lila was a pathological liar but no one ever listens to Marinette.”

The girl only simmered down when you placed a hand on her shoulder. “We will get this sorted out. I want to meet the character who thinks it's ok to lie on my name.”

As you three step into the classroom, everyone is buzzing around a tanned brunette girl. The buzzing stopped though as you marched forward, the two girls following behind you. Alya pressed a button to record on her phone as you approached the desk the strange girl was sitting at. 

“Oh y/n! I guess you're pretty excited that Lila is at school today! One more friend to hang out with,"Adrien smiled at you. You almost felt bad about breaking the news. 

Almost.

You glanced down at the girl who nervously smiled up at you. “Oh my gosh bestieeeee, I’ve missed you so much.”

“Cut the bullshit.” The class gasped at your crude tone. “I don’t even know you. So why was I greeted at school today with the news that I’m excited my ‘best friend’ has decided to show face, hm?”

The girl was sputtering out excuses before being interrupted by Adrien. “Wait, you don’t know her?”

Before anyone else could speak, Miss Bustier walked in, telling the class to settle into their seats. You settled into your seat in the back of the class next to Ivan with a huff. The giant boy looked at you but didn’t say a word. As you scribbled notes down, a crumpled piece of paper landed on your desk. You looked up to see Marinette in front of you who smiled awkwardly before she tilted her head to the front of the class. Sitting in front of her was Adrien who kept glancing back at you two. Okay? You unfurled the piece of paper to read the message hidden inside.

‘I’m sorry, I didn't know. Can we talk after school?’

Looking back up, your eyes met Adrien’s worried green ones. You gave him a curt nod before going back to your work. It better be quick or you’d be late to ballet. 

When the bell rang signifying school to be over, you couldn't even get a word out to any of your school friends before watching Lila drag Adrien into his car.

___________________________

“And she told everyone that we’re best friends! Like who even does that!” You ranted to your two friends as you guys sat on the ground waiting for practice to start. The only thing calming you down right now was Yvonne’s nimble fingers running through your hair.

“That's really foul,” she hummed as she continued to tie your hair up into a ponytail. 

“The foulest!” René exclaimed, shaking his fist in the air dramatically. “Should we come to your school and avenge your honor? Should we bathe in the blood of your enemies?”

You and Yvonne laughed before standing, dusting yourselves off before offering a hand to the boy.

“Let's save the blood bathing for after we destroy our bodies for the sake of art.”

Ballet class was only an hour in before the building started to shake. The instructor quickly calls for a lockdown and suddenly you all are locked into this old building as superheroes fight outside.

“This is so apocalyptic,” you muttered to yourself in english.

“What?”

“I said this is so apocalyptic,” you whispered to René. All the boy does is laugh and offer you to watch the livestream of the fight with him on his phone. Chat Noir and Ladybug seemed to be fighting some sort of sword wielding devil girl who was chasing Lila Rossi throughout the city. 

“Hey isn't that the girl you said was weird to you today?” Yvonne asked as she slid onto the other side of René to watch. 

“She deserves this,” René snorted. “She keeps getting in trouble during the fight for lying. What a freak.”

Eventually the fight ends, revealing the villain to be a familiar Japanese girl. 

“Okay dancers back to practice!” Your ballet teacher called out.

“Back to the grind,” René grinned before standing up. He offered you a hand, which you previously accepted, and he yanked you up with ease.

Chapter Text

Reflekdoll

You had been in Paris for about a month now and ballet practice had been in full swing. The instructor had decided that the seasonal show would be the classic Swan Lake. You were particularly busy due to being casted as the lead role Odette, much to the disdain of your current ballet rival Celine who had  been casted as Odile. At least René was Prince Siegfried, so you at least had one ally. Your life was practically just school and ballet. You haven't even been able to invite your friends to your place as you wanted to weeks ago due to the time restraints.

At school, the girls had gathered to discuss Marinette’s new fashion ideas since class had ended early. It was a rare rest day from ballet. Though Juleka had been voted on by the girls to be her female model, Marinette still needed a male model. Alya approached Adrien and managed to convince him to join her and the rest of the girls to go to Marinette's house. 

Her room was so… pink. You still sat quietly in the corner, utterly exhausted from everything. School, ballet, not to mention the vigilante justice that Mato insisted you must do in the nights after everything else was done. It felt as though your eyes closed for just a moment before a hand startled you back to consciousness. 

“Are you ok?” Adrien looked down at you worriedly before taking a seat next to you. He sat quite close, your knees touched each other as he kept his hand resting on your shoulder.

“I’m fine, just tired,” you managed to give him a smile before turning to the group of girls who now seemed worried. “What’s going on?”

“Juleka is nervous to model so they’re trying to decide who's going to take their place,” he trailed off before smiling mischievously. “What if you took her place? You’ve modeled before.”

Before you could respond he called out to the rest of the girls, “Hey what if Y/n modeled with me?”

Marinette looked kind of upset. She wanted to model with the blonde boy but couldn’t come up with a good reason why you shouldn’t Afterall, you were basically already a professional and it would look really good if she could get the children of two big designers to model her work. You glanced to look at Juleka who simply looked down at her hands in her lap sadly. 

“What about,” you started, “Marinette doing it instead? She is the designer afterall.”

The girls thankfully got the hint and turned to Marinette, chattering away about how she would look so good as a model. A squeeze on your shoulder brought your attention back to the blonde who looked dejected. 

“You don’t want to model with me?”

“Man, don’t look at me like that! You look like a kicked puppy,” you groaned, trying to move his hand off by rolling your shoulder but he only squeezed harder.

“But I-”

“C’mon guys were going!” Alya called out to you two while the rest of the girls filed out. She gave the two of you an odd look but closed the door behind you, leaving behind Rose and Juleka. As the girls all got into Adriens car, Rose came running up with a face full of mixed emotions. Despite this, the girls chatted like nobody's business in the car. 

At the photo location, you sat on a bench as Marinette fussed over herself and Adrien. You wouldn't believe that you were spending your time at a photoshoot when you could have been lounging at home.

“You should just leave if you’re bored,” Mato spoke from your bag. “We should go home and rest! Eat a bunch of macaroons and pass out!”

“You’re only suggesting that because you want to lounge,” you sighed.

The brown bear started to respond but you couldn’t hear it over the sound of a loud thud. An akumatized villain suddenly landed before your group, turning the girls into clones of herself. You stood quickly and Adrien grabbed you by the arm, dragging you behind him to the car. You watched him struggle with the trunk nervously. Then the car went flying. The akumatized villain had caught up to you two. You heard your name being called out and - almost in slow motion - you saw Adrien jumping in front of you before he turned into another clone of the girl.

“Y/n, run!”

You didn’t have to be told twice. You scrambled out of the scene, letting the civilians around you be a distraction to the villain as you swerved through the crowd and ducked into an alleyway.

“Mato, awaken!”

Now that you were in your hero form you jumped out from your hiding spot, launching onto the building you were just using as a shield. Running towards the action, you dropped yourself between… a blonde male Ladybug and a female Chat Noir??

“Uhhhh what happened here? Why the switcharoo?”

The two whipped their heads around to face you with your hands on your hips confused. 

“Woah, nice of you to join us!” The cat girl exclaimed sarcastically. “We had our miraculous swapped so now instead of Ladybug I am Lady Noire.”

“And I’m Mister Bug,” the blonde boy exclaimed.

“Okayyyy I’m just not gonna comment on the name choices.”

“You’re one to talk when we don’t even know your name!” The girl exclaimed with a huff.

“You have to earn it~” You jumped off the building you guys were standing off with a laugh and started bounding towards the action, followed shortly by the two swapped heroes. Reflekdoll was incredibly different from a normal superpowered human. Fighting mechs should be something only cartoon characters do!

“Bear girl!” Mister Bug shouted in urgency, “You’re kind of lacking!”

“Well I’m trying!” You swiped at one of the dolls legs with your claws. “I’m not used to this!”

Lady Noire’s cataclysm doesn’t help in the slightest as the mechanical doll started going absolutely berserk. Mister bug then used his lucky charm and a mirror fell from the sky. Great! Now you guys have an inexperienced fighter and a mirror to help defeat the now crazy mechanical doll.

“I miss the normal Chat Noir and Ladybug,” you pouted as the two stumbled around with their new weapons.

“Uhm it's actually Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Lady Noire pointed out.

“Not in my books.” You sent a subtle wink towards Mister Bug and his face exploded in red. “Now the face matches the suit.”

“Flirt later!” He exclaimed in embarrassment. “Let's defeat this thing!”

The two main heroes rescued the girl from the robot while you kept it contained. The villain attempted to fight off the heroes but Mister Big was able to break her object, releasing and purifying her akuma. However, the fight wasn’t over yet as you continued to hold the giant robot back.

“Guys, why isn't it stopping!? You purified the butterfly right!?”

“We still have to purify the amok,” Mister Bug ran forward followed by Lady Noire to help.

“What the fuck is wrong with Paris,” you cried out in english, confusing the heroes.

Eventually the three of you came to the conclusion that you could get inside the doll's head using a hatch. You continued to hold the robot in its place while the other two attempted to get inside. Thankfully, they were able to quickly purify the amok. Landing down, the two smiled at each other and fist bumped. It must be their thing. You turned to run off again but a hand stopped you. Once again, Chat Noir, well, Mister Bug, had a hold of you before you could escape. 

“You didn’t tell us your name…”

“Well did you earn it?” He was caught off guard so visibly that Lady Noire started laughing. “Just kidding~ I’m Ursa Major. Ciao!”

The three of you ran off into separate directions. You landed in the alleyway you transformed in.

“Mato, hibernate!”

“God we haven’t gotten that much action in ages,” the kwami groaned, floating slowly down into your hands. You raised an eyebrow at his statement.

“You’re always the one bothering me to go on patrols.”

“This is different! This takes way more energy! I think we should just go back to being a vigilante like normal.”

“How could you say that, Mato?” You were shocked at the kwami’s request. “What if those two need me?”

“To be what? A distraction for their next villain? No offense, but you hardly know what's going on.”

Although he was right, you didn't want to admit it. Instead, you shoved the kwami into your bag and walked angrily back to where the group was in the beginning. 

“Y/n!” Adrien jogged over, stopping in front of you and grabbing your shoulders. “Are you hurt? Where were you?”

“I’m fine! You did save me after all. I was just-” Your sentence got cut off by a tight hug from the blonde. You awkwardly pat his back before he released you with pink tinted cheeks. 

“I-I’m glad you’re ok,” the boy said bashfully. “My driver is letting me stay and continue the photoshoot, are you going to watch?”

Your grip tightened on the strap of your bag. “I don't think so. I’m exhausted and… yeah.”

Adrien, bless his heart, just smiled and patted you on the back. “I understand. I hope we can hang out more though before you have to leave back to the states,” He paused before quietly asking, “Can I have your number?”

You never gave any of your school friends your number.

“Oh my god I thought you guys already had my number and instagram I’m so sorry!” You grabbed his phone, quickly inputting your number and Instagram before handing it back. “My driver will be here shortly but here. Feel free to give it to Marinette, Alya, and Nino. Bye Adrien!”

You ran off, long hair trailing behind you. Adrien stood there gripping his phone in his hands. And behind him stood Alya and Marinette, utterly confused and speechless on what they just watched. Then, Marinette spoke up.

“What the heck just happened.”

Chapter Text

It was 5 o’clock in the morning. The sun had not risen and the birds weren’t even awake yet. So why were you awake? Simple. You and René desperately needed to get your pas de deux in the second act of swan lake down perfectly before this afternoon's practice. You two were having trouble keeping the lifts and dips in sync with the music and each time you tried you both got more and more exhausted. 

“I’m sorry,” René groaned with his head in his hands. “I can’t seem to get the timing of the lifts right.”

“It’ll be fine, René. As long as it's done by the performance in a month we’ll live.”

It was a really quick turn around for a ballet performance. In the first week you arrived, the studio had already settled on the performance you guys would do and had started practicing. It’s only been about a month and a half and the pieces just needed to be practiced all in one. Meaning that this afternoon was the class presentation of the different group, solo, and duo performances. The clock on the wall struck 6:30am, signifying that it was nearing time to leave. You two parted to change but came back to the studio to grab your bags. Bidding your friend goodbye, you quickly hopped into your car for the driver to take you to school. 

“Girl you look rough!” Mato’s voice spoke from the inside of your hoodie, not worried about getting caught as the back passenger seat and the driver's seat were separated.

“I feel rough,” you groan, hitting your head against the window.

You felt gross. Your hair was messy from being tied up and you felt sticky after dancing all morning. Thankfully you could leave your duffle bag in the car so you wouldn't have to carry it around all day. As soon as you stepped out of the car onto school grounds, your phone rang. 

“Y/n! My sweet girl, how are you!” Your fathers deep voice spoke from the other end. “Hows ballet! How's Paris! I heard there's a bunch of monsters running around, are you ok? Sorry I haven't called. I've been so busy with the new seasons collection.”

You gave a breathy laugh. “I’m fine dad. Ballet is good. Paris can be kinda scary but mostly fun. I’ve made friends with another fashion designer's son. Small world.”

“Oh, who? Maybe I know them?”

“Uhm he's Gabriel Agreste’s son? I don’t know if you know them. I felt bad cause I had never heard of him until a month or so ago.”

“Oh yes, I know Gabriel. Not closely, but whenever he comes to New York for work events I talk to him since we are both French. I heard he keeps his son under a watchful eye so it makes sense why you never knew him. He never came to any events I’ve brought you to as far as I know.”

You continued to gossip about the fashion industry with your father while sitting on the front steps until you spotted Adrien coming out of his car.

“Oh speak of the devil! I see him coming to school right now.”

“Put him on the phone. I'd like to speak to him. After all, he is my precious daughter's new Parisian friend.”

You nodded, fully aware that your father couldn't see you as you bounded up to Adrien, calling out his name.

“Adrien! My dad is on the phone and he wants to talk to you!” Adrien froze.  Why would your dad want to talk to him? But then, his mind stopped. You were talking about him to your dad?

He took the phone from you and raised it to his ear. “Ah Hello?”

His eyes stared down at the ground as he talked, glancing back at you every so often. You were so curious as to what they were talking about.

“Yes sir, I’ll put you on speaker phone.” He brought the phone down from his ear and held it in between your heads.

“Y/n! I’m glad you have a good boy like Adrien to help you out in Paris! Adrien, I hope to see you at some American events with your father in the future. I must go now. Goodbye darling, I love you!”

Your father hung up and you took your phone back from Adrien. You looked up at the blonde boy through your lashes. He had an unfamiliar expression on his face. He was smiling, but his eyes told a different story. 

“It's so nice that your father is so open and enthusiastic with you,” he said softly. “I wish my father was like that.”

Your eyes softened as you looked at the boy. You laid a hand softly on his shoulder, lightly rubbing it in an attempt to comfort. 

“I’m sure your father will come around eventually. He must love you to some degree for him to be so protective.”

“Protective,” Adrien scoffed, “More like controlling. He never lets me do anything!”

You didn’t really know what to say so you just wrapped him in your arms. He just stood there for a second, which made you feel a bit awkward. But before you could let go, his arms wrapped around you, returning the hug. You two separated without saying anything nor making eye contact. The bell rang, interrupting your awkward moment with the blonde. 

“He'll come around,” you repeated to the boy as you walked with him to homeroom. 

“Do you want to come over after class,” he blurted out suddenly.

“W-what?”

“Do you want to come to my house or do something after school? I figured since I met your father it's only natural that you meet mine,” Adrien's face was glowing pink as he spoke.

“I’m sorry Adrien, but I have to go to ballet after school,” the boy's face dropping tugged on your heart strings. Curse him and his puppy dog face. “But maybe I can ask if you can watch? Not sure if your dad would let you come though.”

“I’ll call him during lunch and ask,” the boy’s energy took a 180 since your previous statement, now beaming with excitement. “I can just say it's to study movement for modeling or something.”

“Good then hopefully I don't completely mess up practice today since we're running through our pieces for the instructor,” you joked.

“When is your show by the way?” He asked, pushing the door to the classroom and holding it open for you.

“Next month. It’s so soon which is why I’m so nervous but-”

“Hey guys, what are we talking about?” Alya and Marinette suddenly popped out of the blue, interrupting your conversation with the blonde.

“I was just talking about my ballet performance next month. I’ll text you guys the ticket information,” you responded, slightly shocked at their sudden appearance.

“Adrien we’re sooo sorry but can we borrow Y/n?” Alya didn’t even wait for the boy to respond before dragging you back out to the hall, Marinette hot on your trail. “Marinette has a question for you.”

You two turned to the girl who looked kind of nervous to be put on the spot.

“So uhhh Y/n! You seem to be getting pretty close with Adrien!” 

“Uhm sure? As close as someone can be with someone they’ve known for a month?”

“And would you say that you like Adrien?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Yeah Adrien is cool. I wouldn’t hang out with him if I didn't think so. I’m sorry, why are you asking me this?”

“She’s trying to ask if you have a crush on Adrien,” Alya interrupted, clearly frustrated by her friend beating around the bush.

Of course. You were well aware of Marinette's crush on Adrien, but you thought she was maybe getting over it since she has been talking about a new guitar boy recently. What you were unaware of, was how possessive she was. This was a new side of the girl that kind of made your skin crawl. 

You crossed your arms over your chest, frowning slightly. “I’m sorry guys but why is that any of your business? I understand that we’re friends but we’re all friends. I should be able to have a one-on-one conversation with Adrien without being asked if I have feelings for him.”

“WE SAW YOU GUYS HUGGING!” Marinette blurted out before slapping her hands over her mouth as Alya sighed.

“I’m going to go inside. I am honestly too tired to be having this conversation right now.”

You didn’t even wait for either girl to respond before turning on your heel and marching back into the room. You made eye contact with the cause and victim of your current dilemma. Your frustration must have been showing on your face as Adriens eyes were filled with concern as you marched up the stairs, throwing yourself into your seat with a sigh.

Being a teenager was exhausting.

________________________________

Girls in tutu’s whispered and giggled softly to each other as you spoke to your instructor, explaining why you had an unexpected guest that was causing a disruption in the class. She had let you park the boy on the floor with your items as the class practiced and performed. 

You made sure the blonde was comfortable on the floor as he laughed and continuously reassured you that he was fine. As soon as you walked away, René and Yvonne grabbed you by the arms.

“Why is Adrien Agreste here?!” Yvonne spoke. She glanced over to the boy who waved at your group with a friendly smile.

“Yeah I thought you were having drama what happened?” René questioned. You had texted the two about the Marinette situation almost right after it happened. It wasn't gossiping if they didn't know her and it actually happened!

“He’s just watching. I felt bad because I kept turning down his invites to hang out,” you explained. You wanted to talk more but the instructor called the class to gather and you had to get to work.

________________________________

Adrien could completely understand why you could come to this prestigious ballet school from across the world. This was a completely different side of you from what he was used to at school. You wore a black leotard with pink nude tights and your long hair that was usually down in a loose braid was tied up in a tight bun. The way you danced was as if you were made of air, lifted and dipped effortlessly by your dance partner. He loved the serene look on your face as you twirled and jumped.

What he did not love was your dance partner's hands gripping onto your waist and caressing your face. It wasn’t that he was jealous. It couldn't be. He was in love with Ladybug and you were leaving by the end of next month. But something about the way you smiled at him made his heart skip a beat. You two had an odd amount of things in common: the children of famous fashion designers, both your moms were dead, you both spoke multiple languages, and had wanted to stray away from the family business. You were brilliant company, but Ladybug had his heart. She was his number one even if he wasn’t hers.

________________________________

You and René were giddy as you jumped up and down on the sidelines while Yvonne and her group danced. You two had gotten the pas de deux down perfectly as the instructor praised the intimacy it portrayed. You two chatted silently while walking towards your bags and the blonde who sat with them. Adrien sat up straighter as he noticed you two approaching. 

“You guys did great!” He exclaimed as you and René plopped down on the floor near him, guzzling down water like your lives depended on it. “I didn’t know you could dance so well.”

Before you could speak up, a voice spoke from behind you. 

“Oh please she’s only here ‘cause her daddy paid.” Celine. The girl wore a smug expression on her face. “Once you're gone, then I go back to being the instructor's number one pick for the lead role and you’ll go back to dirty America where you belong.”

“Move along, Celine,” you scoffed. “I’m still in Paris and I am playing Odette whether you like it or not.”

“Yeah! Y/n is still my little ballet lover!” René butt in. Celine just scoffed and stalked away.

Lover? Ouch . That comment made Adrien’s stomach turn.

You simply rolled your eyes at the comment before turning back to Adrien.

“Thank you Adrien. I just hope that we will be ready. The performance is in a month but I can’t help but feel something will go horribly wrong.”

“Probably because you're getting harassed at school and at ballet.” René commented and you shot him a sharp look.

“Harassed? Y/n what's happening?” Adrien fussed.

“Oh my god. René is just being dramatic. I promise nothing is happening. Celine is just a bitch, which is nothing new. Marinette and Alya are being weird but it's fine!”

Adrien wanted to ask more but the look on your face screamed ‘please don’t push it’. The conversation thankfully was cut short by the instructor calling the class into the middle of the studio, going over the rundown for dress rehearsals that were to start in a couple weeks.

Adrien was to be picked up as soon as class ended. René and Yvonne left already as you kept the boy company until your cars came. The boy kicked the pebbles on the sidewalk as he kept glancing between the ground and you, who stood peacefully scrolling through your phone.

“Are,” he started cautiously, causing you to look up at him. “Are you sure you're good at school?” 

“Adrien,” you sighed. “I’ll be fine. It's just Marinette and Alya. Genuinely what would they do to me? Isolate me from our classmates? I’m going to be gone soon anyways so I might as well do whatever and talk to whoever I want.”

“But-”

“Adrien you're a good friend and a great person. But it wouldn't kill you to take a chance and let others take their chances as well.” Your eyes met his and it was almost as if a spark lit between you two.

“And… what kind of chances are you trying to take,” he spoke breathlessly. His eyes had a sparkle in them that made your stomach erupt in butterflies.

You opened your mouth to respond but a car horn interrupted you two. His driver had arrived mid conversation and his bodyguard was now impatiently waiting on the street.

“My driver is here so I have to go,” he said, seemingly disappointed. 

“Have a good evening Adrien,” you smiled gently at him. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but instead of talking he just turned to walk towards his car. You watched the white car drive off and turn the corner with a sigh.

“He likes you.”

“WHa-! Mato!” Your face flushed a deep red. 

“And you like him,” the kwami grinned at you. 

“He does not like me! And do I need to remind you that we leave in a month? Now is not the time to be having a fling with my classmate.”

“Then what about Chat Noir then?”

“What about him?” 

“Mysterious cat hero visits a random civilian girl and hangs out in her house. You don’t know him, he doesn’t know you, perfect for a fling!”

“I’m not looking for a fling,” you groaned, looking around for your car as you now stood on the empty sidewalk. Before you could worry about how you would get home, the black car sped around the corner, stopping in front of you.

You couldn’t have anything. Not with your classmate. Not with the cat hero. Nothing with no one. Mato knew that. He belonged to the Americas. You belonged to the Americas. Your family and friends were there. Your mom rested there. Why would you willingly entangle yourself with the people of Paris more than you already have? 

Chapter Text

You groaned and threw your head back in frustration. All you wanted to do was unwind by making some music and the creative stump that you’ve been in was just making you even more upset. Just then, a knock on the window interrupted your thoughts. You stood to open the curtains and met a pair of glowing green eyes.

“Bonsoir ma chérie,” the cat's cheery voice spoke through the glass. “May I come in?”

“Chat Noir, what are you doing here?” You questioned as you opened the window. “Was there a villain in the area?”

“Nope! Just popping by to visit my favorite little american!” The young hero popped into your home, promptly taking off his boots at the memory of your house rules. His interest was piqued by the glowing lights of your music set up. “What are you up to?”

“I was trying to make some music to unwind but I think it's just making me more frustrated,” you admitted defeatedly, plopping back down into your desk chair.

“Maybe you just need a source of inspiration? Like me!” The blonde hero started flexing for you, causing you to crack a smile.

“Thank you for the offer. I have the basics of a song down, but I feel like it's missing something.” 

“Maybe something in French? Or do you mostly write in English?”

“Well I mostly write in English since it's my native language but perhaps I can do something in French..” You trailed off before gasping, inspiration hitting you in an instant. “I’ve got it!”

You turn up the beat so it's loud enough for Chat to hear it before putting on a pair of headphones and turning towards the mic.

“Hit 'em with the bilingual

Je sais que je m'en vais

You won't see me again

Je ne suis pas

Moi—je ne suis”

You paused the recording and gave the ending sentence a bit of a remix so it flowed into the chorus you had already previously recorded. 

“You came up with that on the spot?” Chat said in awe. “Maybe you should just stay in Paris and become a singer! That was impressive.”

His comment about staying in Paris gave you another spark of inspiration. Something to finish it off. The perfect bridge came to mind as you recorded the verse with no backing track. You could figure the details out later but when inspiration struck you had to record it. 

“Oh, mon amour,” You sang into the mic, making eye contact with Chat and smiling before continuing. 

“You know you're not the one

Who can make me stay, oh no, no

This isn't my home, oh no, no

My heart is on the road.”

You paused the recording again and looked back to Chat smiling. 

“It was so good you showed up! I haven't had that kind of inspiration in ages!” You laughed breathlessly, bringing your hands up to cradle your face as you grinned at the leather clad hero.

“Hahah yeah I guess you could say I’m inspirational like that,” Chat Noir replied, though there was a certain undertone to his sentence that you couldn't quite place a finger on. “Soooo ‘mon amour’ huh? Am I that charming?” The cat hero wiggled his eyebrows as you rolled your eyes.

“Or maybe it was just the first basic French term of endearment that came to mind,” you snorted. “Besides, I think ‘mon chaton’ is a little too on the nose, hm?”

The surprising term of endearment caused a rare silence in the hero. Suddenly, a voice broke the nearly tender moment.

“Y/n! I brought home snacks! Who are you talking to?”

“Oh shit.” You scrambled to shove Chat Noir behind the door as you opened it, revealing a very confused B/n. “Hahah no one! Uhm I was just having a phone call. Anyways I haven't seen you in so long!” You leaned on the door frame in a very suspicious manner, causing your brother to raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah… I’ve been busy… You were on a phone call? I thought I heard another voice.”

“Nope! Just my friend on speaker phone. Helping with music. Y’know how it is. So uhhhh where's the snacks?”

B/n raised his hand, revealing a paper bag. “I brought you some pastries cause you said you haven't been eating as much since you’ve been busy…” he trailed off before trying to peek into your studio. “Are you sure no one is over?”

“Nope! No one is here just me, myself and I! Ok bye bye I’m working on something! Thanks for the food!” You rushed out before shutting the door in his face. You sighed and looked at the hero who stood in front of you. “That was so nerve racking!” You whispered, dragging him back to the far end of the room and away from the door.

“Why is it such a big deal that I’m over?” Chat Noir asked slightly confused about your stress.

“Because you’re a strange hero boy in the home of a 14 year old girl! For all I know you could be some old guy!”

“I’m not an old guy!” The boy gasped in offense. “For your information I am also 14.”

This tidbit of information made you pause.

“You’re 14 years old and defending Paris? How do you have time for school? Or social life?”

“Ah,” he sighed and sat on the floor of the room, curling his knees to his chest. “Between school and hero work and… other stuff, I feel like sometimes I barely have time to myself.”

“Chat..” You kneeled in front of the boy so you were both now sitting on the floor.

“It's nothing really. I can handle it. I have my responsibilities.”

“But you have so much on your plate and you're so young-”

“We’re the same age,” Chat interrupted.

“Okay we’re so young. Nonetheless you shouldn't have to deal with all this!” You recognized the hypocrisy of your statement, but you couldn’t help but say it. You were also a student and hero trying to balance your life. However, the difference between you and the boy was that you were more of a sideline hero and he was saving Paris almost every day. The cat boy just shrugged at your statement, untangling himself so that he was leaning back on his hands with his legs spread out on the floor on either side of you.

“There’s really nothing I can do about it,” he paused before smiling softly and tilting his head, his golden locks falling over his eyes in complete boyish charm. “But I appreciate your concern.”

You two just sit in silence, staring into each other's eyes. It was oddly comfortable to be sharing silence with a boy whom you don’t truly know. The hero was sparking all kinds of feelings - some inspiration, others… well you didn’t want to look into them further.

“So,” Chat Noir's voice broke the silence. “What have you been up to recently? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Oh just school and ballet. Haven’t really been able to see my friends, which I feel kinda bad about but I think some drama is brewing so maybe it's for the best.”

“Drama?”

“Yeah. A couple of my friends cornered me asking if I had a crush on my friend Adrien. I told them to mind their business, but they don’t seem like the type to quit.”

Chat was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “Well, do you?”

“Sorry?”

“Do you have a crush on Adrien?” His question came as a shock to you. Since when was he so curious about your love life?

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that curiosity killed the cat?”

“But satisfaction brought it back,” he quipped back, making you laugh in disbelief.

“Even if I did like him like that it wouldn’t be right. I'm going back to America soon y'know.”

“Well wouldn’t now be the best time? If he likes you back then you guys can have fun in the meantime.”

You shook your head. “I don’t want to waste his time like that. I don’t think either of us do have time like that anyways. He’s really busy with modeling and school and his friends. I’m busy with… well the whole reason I came to Paris in the first place.”

“But don’t you think you should try? Take chances right?” His sentence sounded so familiar but you couldn’t quite remember how. 

“Nah, I don’t think so. It’s too complicated and I don’t want to hurt any feelings.”

Chat mumbled something under his breath that you didn’t quite catch. He then moved his body so that you two were now kneeling on the floor in front of each other. “Can I do something?” he hesitantly asked.

You raised an eyebrow at the question. “You’re not going to attack me right?”

“Of course not!” He scoffed. At his answer, you nodded your head despite your gut telling you that something was up.

The hero reached a leather clad hand out to you, hesitating for a second before brushing a strand of your hair back and resting his hand against your face. His tender touch made you blush. Whether it was embarrassment or something else, you weren’t sure. He moved his body closer and you shut your eyes in suspense. You felt his breath against your neck and a shiver went down your spine, but instead of something more intimate, the boy simply wrapped his other arm around your body. The hand that was on your face snaked down so that his arm slung over your shoulders and his head rested in the crook of your neck. When you opened your eyes, you were met with a mop of golden blonde as the boy held on tighter. Hesitantly, you reciprocated the hug, slightly confused on why the boy made the situation so much more intimate then it needed to be.

“Chat…” you sighed out. Your breath against his hair made his costume ear twitch. Oh?   “If you wanted a hug you could have just asked. Didn’t need to make it so dramatic.”

He mumbled something in response, but you couldn't hear it as it was muffled by your shoulder. You reached a hand up to rub the boys back, but a sudden sound made you almost start laughing.

“Are you purring?” 

Chat Noir immediately pulled back, face flushed red in embarrassment.

“I am not! I don’t purr!” His defensiveness caused you to laugh.

“Oh you totally did! C’mere I’ll show you,” you reach your arms out back to the boy who shuffled backwards. 

“You don’t have to show me, I already know I don’t purr!”

The two of you scuffled around on the floor for a bit before stopping, panting slightly from the light rough housing.

“I didn’t know you could be so cute Chat Noir,” you giggled. 

“I’m not the cute one here,” he mumbled under his breath. You pretended not to hear. Instead, you stood up and stretched, faking a yawn to give the impression that you were exhausted.

“Well Chat, as much as I enjoy your presence, I’m exhausted.”

Chat blinked a bit in confusion before standing with you.

“Oh… Do you want me to go?” He sounded a bit dejected. It wasn’t his fault though - you were just a bit avoidant. 

“I-” You bit your lip to stop talking. You’ve never really been one to apologize, especially not in a scenario like this where it wasn’t really needed. Still, the look on the boy's face almost forced it out of you. Chat nodded in understanding but had a sad and confused look in his eyes. “I’ll see you another day though?” You suggested hesitantly. Despite your very unclear tone, the boy lit up and oh god was his smile refreshing. He stepped forwards before kissing your hand. You could feel his lips smile against your knuckles before he pulled away. Wordlessly, he opened the window and jumped onto the ledge.

“Goodnight mon chaton,” you whispered breathlessly. He swiveled his head to look at you, eyes widened in shock at the pet name. Yet, he smiled at you with that brilliant smile once more.

“Goodnight ma chérie,” he said softly before disappearing into the night.

Chapter Text

You bit your lip, gnawing at it anxiously. Gently, you dabbed at your hairline to prevent the sweat that was gathering from ruining your makeup. Today was the last showday. News had gotten out that F/n’s daughter was performing this weekend so the theater was packed with people buzzing in anticipation. Even though you had performed flawlessly in the previous shows, the amount of people - and the fact that your school friends were in the audience - made you nauseous. René and Yvonne approached from behind.

“Nervous?” Yvonne asked softly, setting a hand onto your shoulder for comfort. “Don’t be. You looked great in rehearsals and you’ll look great on stage.”

“This is the last show day as well,” René quipped. “After this we will party, to celebrate this show and to bid you a farewell soon.”

“I know, I’m just-” your words caught in your throat. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

You ran into the nearest bathroom as quickly as you could in pointe shoes and locked the door behind you. Your hands shook as you stared in the mirror. The white tutu complimented your skin tone well and your face was painted to the gods thanks to Yvonne. Even so, you felt so uneasy. Like something bad was going to happen. 

“Calm down Y/n!” Mato phased through the wall of the bathroom and flew close to you in worry. “You’ve been doing great!”

“I know I just have this feeling that something is going to go horribly wrong tonight!” You groaned. “And I miss home but I love Paris and ugh! I’m just feeling horrible about this show. And there are so many people-”

“Don’t worry about it! The show will be fine, everyone will love you! And we can always come back to Paris after highschool!”

“But what if they don’t let me take you here permanently,” you sighed and looked up at the kwami with sad eyes. “You belong in America. I doubt the guardian will accept a permanent move for an American miraculous across the sea. And… they’ll probably be upset that I took you here and have been sighted here.”

Mato paused. You could tell he never really thought about the fact that the guardian would be upset that he was in France or the possibility of him not being able to move and stay with you.

“It-it’ll be fine,” Mato said hesitantly. A knock on the door interrupted the conversation.

“Y/n? Are you ok? We have to go on soon!”

“I’m coming!” You shouted back. Quickly hugging the small creature, you let him fly off before unlocking the door and coming face to face with René. 

“God you stress me out!” He quickly grabbed you to pull you towards the stage.

___________________

The show had been going on without a hitch. The finale was finally here. As the lights came on, you and René danced around each other gracefully. However, when you got set down by him after the stunt, your foot twisted oddly and pain shot up your leg. You didn’t show the pain in your face though and grit your teeth, finishing up the piece. Jumping from the cliff set piece, you landed on your back, clutching your foot and staring up to the ceiling with a million thoughts running through your head. How the hell did you injure your foot? René landed next to you a second later. He turned to you with a grin before shooting up, realizing that something had definitely gone wrong. 

“What happened?” He whispered next to you.

“I’m not sure,” you grimaced. “I think I strained something.”

René gathered you up in his arms, lifting you with ease to carry you off of the foam mat that caught both of your falls. The stage manager was quickly called over as the curtains closed and the medics trailed after René as he brought you to the wings. 

Despite the massive pain in your foot and ankle, you insisted that you were fine so that you could go out for the final bow and to greet your friends. The bow went fine. René supported your weight and helped hide the injury by picking you up for the run out, dipping you gracefully as you leaned your weight on your good foot. The smile on your face dropped as soon as the curtains closed. Yvonne rushed over to help support your weight as they both brought you to the dressing rooms. After Yvonne - the doll she is - helped get you dressed from your tutu into a pair of sweats, the medics wrapped your ankle and advised you to keep the weight off of it at least until you could see a proper doctor.

Of course this would happen to you. At least it was the final show but it was the principle. Certain injuries could retire a ballerina, meaning that your dreams and aspirations could be shattered with a simple strain. René held your bags for you as Yvonne helped walk you out. As you entered the hallway, you spotted Adrien, Nino, Marinette, and Alya. They rushed to you all smiling and chattering away about how good the performance was and how happy they were to be able to see you perform. 

“What happened?” Adrien's voice cut through the chatter. His eyes were glued to the wraps that peeked out from your sweats and slippers. 

“Little Y/n here had a bit of a stumble on stage and injured herself,” René quipped. 

“I’m fine,” you stressed, noticing Adriens concerned look. “I’m sure it's nothing and I’ll be back on my feet in no time.”

“We do have to go though,” Yvonne cut in. “We have to take Y/n to the doctor and I’m sure her brother would not be happy if we kept her on her feet for so long with an injury.”

You smiled an apologetic smile to your classmates with a promise to text them updates later as your ballet friends carried you off.

___________________

Life really was totally unfair. 

B/n met you at the nearest urgent care where the doctors told you that you had achilles tendonitis, putting you on bed rest, and advising you may not ever be able to dance like you could before. Your father, who had become racked with guilt for not being there for your performance and restless Parisian life, called this his last straw and ordered B/n to come back to the states with you immediately. Within 48 hours, B/n had packed up your entire apartment, leaving behind only the furniture, and booked a one way plane ticket for the both of you back to New York. With all the chaos, you had barely gotten a chance to text your friends. Yvonne and René knew - given they were the ones to bring you to urgent care and had stayed for the doctor's diagnosis - but your classmates, specifically Adrien, remained in the dark. Your group chat was blowing up with worried texts. Adrien had called you several times and even Marinette and Alya, who still seemed unsure of your relationship with the blonde, had attempted to contact you. With tears streaming down your face, you texted the group chat a parting message:

I’m sorry. I’m heading back to the states early… I’ll miss you guys.

You set your phone to airplane mode and laid it face down in your lap, watching out the window of the plane as it brought you further from the city and people you had grown to love. 

Chapter Text

6 years later ~ everyone is now around 20 years old

“St/n over here!!”

“St/n, what are you planning on doing in Paris?”

Your security guards blocked the paparazzi as your assistant helped you into the black van that awaited you. Throwing off your hood, you smoothed out your pink hair with your hands. 

“Jesus Christ! And I thought New York was crazy!” Your assistant Simone exclaimed, twirling a braided strand in between her fingers. “I thought they were going to pull my hair out! They really would’ve seen me mad if they did. I got my hair braided specially for this move.”

All you did was sigh in response. It had been so long since you've been in this city. The last time… well it was filled with complicated memories to say the least. As all of you grew older, you lost contact with all of your Parisian friends. Obviously you had also lost contact with Chat Noir the moment you left Paris. There was no way you would have stayed in contact with the hero anyways. After all, he still had his secret identity to maintain. A part of you wondered, though, if you would see him again. Moving back into the same family apartment made you question whether you could connect again like old times, talking on the floor of your room and listening to the music you produced. You shook your head to free yourself of the wishful thinking. There was no way he still thought of you.

Suddenly, a car flew overhead and it was like deja vu.

“What the fuck!” Simone grabbed onto your arm in fear, her manicured nails digging into the skin of your bicep. The car you sat in screeched to a halt as the driver stared at the scene before him in panic.

“They still have akuma’s?” You were almost speechless. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS AN AKUMA!?”

The door swung open and a man drenched in pink stood there with an evil expression. 

“St/n! I knew you would be in here,” he spoke in a sickly sweet tone. “I’m your biggest fan! Please, I want you to come with me.”

His outreached hand got smacked by Simone. “She is not going with you! Not on my watch,” the girl spoke in slightly broken French.

The man pouted before simply clapping his hands and Simone froze into a pink crystal statue, shocking you enough to elicit a scream. 

“A pink diamond. Just like your song.” The man reached out again and grabbed you by the wrists, encrusting them with diamonds to create a binding. You were kicking and screaming as the man attempted to drag you out of the car. As soon as your body left the car, a swish crossed between the two of you and you were whisked away as the man shouted angrily at the interruption. You turned your head to look at your savior and the world almost stopped. Looking back at you was a pair of equally shocked emerald green eyes, highlighted by the black mask that surrounded them. 

“Y/n?”

“Chat Noir,” you said breathlessly as he landed on a nearby roof. 

“What? How? Huh?” The cat hero still held you in his arms. “You’re back?”

“Uhhh surprise?” With your arms wrapped around his neck, you could feel the long strands of blonde hair that now fell to his shoulders. “Your hair is so long now.”

“I haven't seen you in five years and the first thing you say is- Augh never mind. I have to help Ladybug.” He let you down and started stalking off, preparing his baton to catapult him into the air.

“I’m going to be at the old apartment!” You yelled after him. Watching his black leather form disappear into the buildings, you groaned. All these years and the first thing you say is that his hair is long? DUH! It's been years! You started to shimmy yourself down the building and called Simone once you got to the concrete surface of the sidewalk.

_______________________

“What the fuck is wrong with Paris,” Simone groaned, throwing herself over the couch in your living room dramatically. As soon as you got to the old apartment, you immediately started unpacking, both to be productive and to distract yourself from the boy problems that immediately greeted you upon return to this beloved city.

“I already gave you the rundown Simone,” you stated, hanging picture frames carefully along the walls of the plain white home. “Anyways, you won’t be staying at this apartment. I got you a one bedroom just downstairs so you have some privacy of your own.”

Simone flipped onto her stomach, grinning up at you as you continued to fret around the apartment. “You’re too good to me, Y/n. You’re like my bestie and my boss!”

“I’m not feeling very boss-like considering I’m decorating my own apartment while my assistant rolls around on my brand new couch.”

“Yeah but you love to decorate! You would get frustrated if I helped.”

“You’re right.”

After you finished up for the evening, you bid Simone goodbye as she headed downstairs. Just as she left your apartment, a knock sounded on the living room balcony. You almost ran to the window, throwing open the curtain to see a pair of glowing green eyes in the dark. It’s like things never changed. You let the cat hero in, shutting the balcony doors behind you as the man took his boots off. He remembered. As he stood back up to full height, you realized he had a growth spurt. Holy shit he’s huge now. It’s not like you were super short, after all you two were around the same height in your teenage years give or take a couple1 inches because of his shoes. But now you barely reached beneath his chin and he had to tilt his head to look down at you.

“Hey.”

“I came by to talk to you after five years and all you can say is ‘hey’!?” He rushed out, obviously frustrated from keeping all these questions in for so long. “When did you get back? Wait first- Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? Why didn’t you say an actual goodbye?”

“First of all, it's been six years. I got in today. I didn’t tell you I was leaving because we left in a rush. And,” you hesitated, “I didn’t say goodbye because I was embarrassed. Or devastated? No, both.”

“What do you mean embarrassed?” He scoffed.

“At my ballet performance. I injured myself on the final night and I thought it wasn’t a big deal but my dad called me and my brother back as soon as possible.” You squeezed your eyes as your face scrunched in phantom pain. Your hands gripped the hem of your hoodie. “And the injury ended up retiring me from ballet.”

“What?” Chat questioned as he looked down at your foot. “But it looks like you can walk fine?”

“Yeah I can walk, jump, do whatever basically. But I can’t dance ballet like I used to.”

“You're doing pretty well for yourself though.” When you tilted your head in confusion he clarified, “Your music career? You're genuinely famous in your own name now.”

“Oh right.” Basically the whole reason you were able to come back to the city in the first place. “Well y’know after my injury I really started to put myself into my music.”

“I remember,” he interrupted. “Sitting on the floor with you while you made your songs. The one that got really popular?”

“Moi? I can’t believe you remember that,” you let out a breathy laugh. Then, in a quieter tone, you said, “I thought you would’ve been more mad at me.”

“Oh I was so mad. I think I still am.” Your eyes flickered down to stare at your hands. “But I still want to be your friend.”

You looked up at him, slightly teary eyed, and wrapped the boy up in a bear hug. “Thank you, Chat.” 

The night was filled with warm drinks and catching up. The two of you sat on the floor of your living room surrounded by cardboard boxes as you laughed and chatted.

“Have you contacted your other friends? Or planning to? You were friends with that Adrien Agreste kid right?” 

His question made you pause. “Oh uhm. I kind of lost contact with them a year or so after I moved back. Had to change my number and forgot to save their contacts. I honestly don’t even know what they’re up to.”

“Well, not to meddle in your private relations, but I know your old friend Nino is hosting a boiler room set tomorrow. If you are interested in that kind of thing.”

You let out a laugh. “Chat, if you listened to literally any of my music you would know that I live for any music high energy and electronic. I’ll ask Simone if she wants to go with me.” You started googling the event, which wasn’t very hard to find, sending the link to tickets to Simone who was most definitely asleep.

The two of you continued to catch up, talking well into the night. It felt as if nothing had changed and you were back to being 14 again, whispering and giggling over stupid stuff and trying not to get caught by B/n. Eventually, the sun started peeking over the horizon and you couldn’t control the urge to yawn.

“I should probably go,” Chat sighed as he stood up, stretching out his limbs that were sure to be sore from sitting on the hardwood floor all night. You stood up as well, walking the man to the balcony. Before he left he turned to smile at you once more.

“It was nice seeing you again,” he said softly. “You’re… a refreshing presence when life gets chaotic.”

“I’ll stick around this time,” you smiled back, grabbing his gloved hand in yours. His cheeks lit up pink but you played it off as the glow from the rising sun. “I’ve permanently moved here and I don’t plan on moving back any time soon.”

The news caused the hero to grin so brightly that - with the sun shining behind him - he looked like an angel sent from heaven. He brought your hand to his lips, brushing a light kiss against your knuckles as he stared into your eyes. 

“I’ll be seeing you around then, ma chérie.” 

The feeling of his lips moving against your knuckles made your face feel hot. The hero jumped out of the balcony, using his baton to launch him between buildings. Watching him leave made you curse yourself though. You really did not want to have feelings for the hero again.

Chapter Text

You tugged the hemline of the dress down your legs as you stared at yourself in the mirror. A slightly sheer, black dress hugged your curves, coming down to just under your butt. A large brown fury coat covered your body for modesty in the streets and conveniently held all of your items in the secret inside pockets. On your feet were a pair of black knee high leather boots. They were bound to make your feet sore by the end of the night but god you looked great. To give a messy, yet sexy look, you kept your hair and makeup relatively simple. Your makeup was natural save for the dark tight lined eyeliner that accentuated your (e/c) eyes and your hair was set in a messy blowout look. With all the effort you put into your look tonight you hoped and prayed that you would run into the people you were going for in the first place.

“Y/n! You ready?” Simone called from behind. Spinning around to face her, you took in her outfit as well. Her braided hair was pulled up in a half up half down hairstyle and her face was beat to the gods. Her outfit was almost the opposite of yours - with her bottoms being incredibly casual, just a pair of baggy track pants. Covering her top, however, was just a simple metallic bikini top. She had a small purse hung on her shoulders that looked stuff to the brim, assumably with shooters. “Dude you look hot! Your little highschool friends are going to gag!”

“Not really looking to gag,” you laughed, “I just wanna make a good impression.”

“Whatever! Lets do some shots then call then driver! Whether or not we see them we are going to get wasted!” The girl cheered as the hopped over to the kitchen to pour you both some shots.

______________________

The two of you got into the venue easily thanks to the bouncer who recognized you. Your friend gripped onto your hand, pulling you through the crowd. You kept your eyes peeled for any familiar faces but just as you were trying to scan the crowd, Simones hand slipped from yours causing your face to slam into the back of a stranger. Your mouth opened to apologize but the words got stuck in your throat. The stranger who you ran into was none other than Adrien Agreste. Despite the amount of girls that surrounded him, his eyes stayed only on you.

“My lip gloss stained your jacket!” 

Stupid statement to say to a friend you haven’t seen in 6 years. While it was true that the boys white leather jacket now had a burgundy lip gloss print, he ignored it, staring at you in shock. 

“Y/N?” He yelled out. He yelled something else but you couldn’t hear it over the blaring music and rowdy crowd. He definitely noticed because he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, pulling you close to him. 

“What are you doing here? You look nice,” He spoke loudly, now so close that his breathe tickled the shell of your ear causing you to shiver. You could smell the alcohol on his breath. His hand that sat on your shoulder dragged down, now holding onto the crook of your elbow.

“I’m here to see Nino do his DJ thing!” You yelled back. “I lost my friend though!”

He leaned in closer. The arm around you tightened and the smell of his cologne mixed with sweat made you feel dizzy. “Not here to see me?”

What a response.

Before you could respond, another - more feminine - hand grabbed onto your forearm, tugging you towards them. 

“Y/n I lost you for a sec!” Simone yelled, starting to drag you in the direction she popped out from. “I found your friend Nino! He’s about to take a break from the booth soon and said he was going to chill in the back soon if you wanted to chat!”

The girl continued to ramble on but you could barely even listen as you kept eye contact with your old friend, watching as his green eyes disappeared into the crowd.

______________________

“Duuuddeeee. I haven't seen you in forever girl! How's life?” Nino plopped down on the couch across from you before pouring himself a drink. 

“I’ve been good. Just moved back to Paris. Sorry for going cold after leaving,” you explained in the briefest way possible, not wanting to get into your whole life for the past 6 years. “Are you still with Alya?”

“Oh yeah, that's my wife, man.” You raised your eyebrows in surprise causing the man to laugh. “Not actually - we’re still too young for that. But man if these 6 years of domesticity haven't been awesome!”

“I’m happy for you guys,” you smiled at him.

“How about you? Found a man? Looking for one?” He leaned his elbows onto his knees with a wide grin. “Y’know Adrien still talks about you. You’d think he’d get over the American girl who came to Paris for only a few months 6 years ago.”

Your face burned red as Simone giggled into her drink. You brought your drink up to your lips, hoping the cup could hide your red face.

“I just ran into him actually,” you mumbled into your drink before taking a sip. “He seemed like he was having fun.”

“Lemme guess - drunk and surrounded by girls?” Nino laughed heartily. “Typical Adrien.”

“Typical?”

“Don’t tell me you're jealous?”

“No, he just… didn’t peg me as the type that's all.”

“I honestly thought him and Mari would be dating by now,” he sighed and leaned back onto the couch, taking another sip on his drink. “They tried it for a bit. I don’t know why it didn't work out cause me and Alya would’ve loved a couple to do double dates with.”

Oh? So Marinette got to live her dreams after all. Short lived for sure, but got to live them nonetheless. It made you wonder though: who started it and who ended it? Ninos voice brought you back out of your head again.

“Hey I was wondering if you ever wanted to collab for a set sometime? I feel like our music could work together.”

Before you could respond, Simone whipped out a business card from her little purse.

“For business you can contact me or her manager on the emails provided on this card.”

You rolled her eyes at her formality. “Just give me your phone Nino. I’ll put my new phone number in it. And add me on instagram. That way when we announce it we can do a collaborative post.”

You guys talked for a bit more, planning the best way and date to host a collaborative set. Simone whispered into your ear before standing up, jerking her head towards the door to signal she wanted to go. You bid your friend a farwell and a promise to reach out more now that you’re back in the city. In response, he suggested trying to get his highschool classmates together to catch up. 

______________________

You laid down on your bed, freshly showered and scrolling through your phone mindlessly. Your scrolling got interrupted by a couple of texts that came in from Nino.

Nino: Hey dude it was so nice to catch up tonight!

Nino: Can I give Adrien your new number?

Chapter Text

You stared at your phone screen in shock.

???: Hey Y/n it’s Adrien :)

???: From Collège Françoise Dupont!

???: It’s been a few years idk if you remember me

You didn’t think he would actually want to hit you up. And the fact that he asked if you remembered him? He must have been blacked out because he didn't seem to remember grabbing you at the club yesterday.

You: Hey Adrien of course I remember you

Adrien: I was wondering if you're free today?

Adrien: Wanna catch up?

You: Sure! Just let me know where :)

___________________________

You sat in the cafe with your hair up in a claw clip and giant sunglasses blocking the majority of your face. You didn’t want Simone or your bodyguard to come with you so you were officially in incognito mode. Two coffees sat in front of you, bought as soon as you had entered the cafe as you felt awkward sitting at an empty table. The sound of a bell ringing signified the door was being opened, causing your eyes to dart up. Slipping into the cafe was a blonde man dressed in a similar fashion, instead having a hat to block his face. Thankfully, your fashion wasn't out of the ordinary: it happened to be a sunny day in Paris so the majority of its citizens were wearing similar accessories.

“Hey,” he said excitedly as he slid into the chair across from you. “You already got me a drink?”

“I figured I would since I got here early,” your face flushed at the acknowledgement. “I hope you like Café Crème?”

“I love it.” His smile was still the same as when you were teens. “When Nino told me he reconnected with you I was pretty shocked. I for sure thought I would never see you again.”

“I love Paris,” you sipped your drink. “I saw him at the boiler room set a couple days ago. Thought you’d remember seeing me as well but I guess I was just another face in the crowd.”

His face flushed pink as he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. “Sorry. I do remember talking to you but I don’t really remember what about. I also thought I might’ve drunkenly hallucinated it.”

“I’m just teasing you Adrien,” you laughed. Secretly, you felt a bit upset that he didn't remember your interaction. “We’re going to collaborate for another set I think. I’m going to perform a little bit and Nino is going to DJ before and after.”

He perked up at the mention of another rave. “Another one? When?”

“You’re such a party boy. It's going to be two weeks from now I think. Nino said Alya won’t be too mad at the last minute work.”

“Will you be busy in the meantime?” His question caught you off guard. 

“I don't think so?” You tried to ponder any activities Simone may have signed you up to do but your mind came up blank.

“Would you want to hang out?”

“Are we not right now?”

“I meant more like we can go back to my place…” He seemed bashful asking it, as if he had never asked a girl to hang out before.

“Wow, how forward,” you teased, leaning forward a bit to rest your elbows on the table separating your bodies. 

Adrien sputtered in response, losing his cool a bit as he choked on his drink.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” He exclaimed, waving his hands frantically in front of him. “I just meant- Y’know I have the house to myself now- I mean-!”

Your boisterous laughter cuts him off from digging himself a deeper pit as he slides down into his chair, face tinged pink in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry Adrien. I'm just teasing!” You snickered into the back of your hand before standing up. “Of course I’ll come over. Now get up!”

_________________________

The two of you lounged on the plush couches of his living room, watching a bad movie and about 3 glasses into champagne. Nothing screams French more than day drinking. Except for maybe if you had a cigarette… Your legs were outstretched on the couch, feet almost brushing against Adrien's thigh where he sat on the other side. You glanced to look at the boy while his eyes remained locked on the movie. It was surprisingly comfortable to sit in silence with him despite not seeing each other for years. And even when you were friends, you had only known each other for a few months. You thought about what Nino said: how he still thought about you. 

“Nino told me that you still talk about me,” you meant to say it casually, but it came out accusatory. You fought to keep a grin down when his head whipped around, revealing wide eyes and a red face.

“He did not!”

“Oh he totally did,” you shimmied up so that you were sitting straight up now, legs still splayed out in front of you. “He said he thought you’d ‘get over the American girl who came to Paris for only a few months 6 years ago’.”

“No!” He gasped, bringing a hand up to hide his face.

You could only laugh loudly in response to his horror. However, your laugh was cut off by a loud buzz from your phone.

Simone: please check twitter

Simone: y/n i wish i was kidding you need to check twitter right now.

Her uncharacteristic seriousness took you by surprise. You quickly shuffled to sit cross legged on the couch while opening the app before your jaw dropped open in shock. 

“What? What is it?” Adrien sat up straight at your expression, voice lowering in concern. You could only slowly turn your phone screen to him, revealing a tweet about you two that was rapidly gaining popularity. It was a blurry picture of the two of you laughing at the cafe followed by another of him helping you into his car. The caption read “HOT NEW CELEBRITY COUPLE? St/n and Adrien Agreste spotted having a romantic coffee date in Parisian cafe before leaving together in the model's car. Is this the start of a budding romance?”

“Gotta admit we look good together,” Adrien started before you smacked him in the arm.

“Holy shit I’m going to get crucified by your fangirls,” you groaned, shoving your head into your hands in despair.

“You’re going to get crucified? What about me? What about how your fans will react?”

“My fans are mostly normal!”

“One of your fans literally attacked you with an akuma…”

You looked at him funny. “How did you know that?” 

“Uhhhh Paris News?” He chuckled, seeming a bit nervous. 

“I have to make a statement,” you sighed, typing up a quick draft before sending it to your PR team. 

“You don’t want to let it simmer first?”

“I’d rather just nip it in the bud right now.”

Adrien hovered over your shoulder as you copy-pasted the now approved tweet into your twitter account. 

@St/n: hey guys i just became aware of the rumor spreading around that i and @adrienagreste are a couple. we are not! simply old friends from highschool that wanted to catch up now that i’m back in paris :) *attached photo of your group in highschool*

“Wait, choose a different one, my hair looks weird in this picture,” Adrien groaned. You looked at him quizzically but changed the picture anyway, getting a nod of approval from him before pressing post.

With that you could finally breathe a sigh of relief, tilting your head back to rest on the back of the boys couch. 

“This may be a bad time but,” Adrien started and you rolled your head to the side to look up at him. “I missed you. A lot.”

“I know. Nino already told me,” you laughed lightly. 

“No, like,” he paused, as if thinking deeply. “I really missed you. It’s kind of weird because we only knew each other for a few months but I wish we kept in touch more when you left.”

“Honestly,” you said softly,” I was really embarrassed about my injury and being brought back to New York abruptly. I know I didn’t deal with it the best. I should’ve told you guys.”

“I do wish you told us but I’m glad you came back,” he said. And then he smiled that dazzling smile that you haven't seen in years. You honestly didn’t even know you missed it. 

However, the clock on the wall right behind his head caught your attention.

“7:28pm?! Oh my god Simone’s gonna kill me,” you shot up, stumbling over your feet as you quickly tried to gather your belongings while calling your ride home.

“What why? It's still early!” Adrien watched from the couch as you quickly pulled on your hoodie, pink tendrils of hair poofed out in a frizzy mess. 

“I’ve been gone all day! And I still need to work on my set for Nino’s thing!”

A warm hand around your wrist stopped every movement and every thought as you turned to look at him. Adrien's cheeks were slightly flushed as he looked up at you, a bashful look plastered across his face. 

“Can I see you again? Sometime soon?”

Your face softened at his vulnerable tone.

“Definitely before the performance. I-,” A ping from your phone interrupted you. “Ah I have to go. My driver is here.”

“I’ll walk you to the door.”

Adrien, ever the gentleman, walked you all the way to your car that waited in his round about driveway. He even opened the door for you.

“Adrien, I will try my best to make time for you before the set,” you turned around to face him. Adrien caught you by surprise by entrapping you in a tight hug. 

“It was really nice seeing you again Y/n,” he smiled, face lit by the dim lighting atop the brick wall that fenced in his home. 

“Same to you Adrien.” You returned his smile, squeezing his hand before slipping into the car.