Spots Off 🐞 (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction)

35- He Knows

Adrien's POV

A flash of lightning shoots across the sky. I should get home before my father notices I'm gone. Though, I doubt it. My phone starts ringing and I shake it out of my wet pocket. It's Marinette. Oh no! I hope she's okay. I haven't seen her since Mooncaster attacked at school and I told her to run. I'm such a bad friend. I should have checked on her. I answer the call and hold the phone to my ear. "Hey, Marinette. What's up?"

I can hear her breath shaking. "I need you, Adrien. Are you close by?"

A chill passes through me. The thought of Marinette being anything but safe puts my mind in a panic. "What's going on? Mari, where are you?"

"I'm on the subway. It's stuck or something and the doors are locked." There's a faint sound of smacking on glass. "I can't get them open."

Without a second thought, I take off running towards the subway, not caring if anyone sees or recognizes me and if I ruin another good pair of shoes. "I'm on my way. I'm actually close by. Don't hang up, okay?"

"Okay..." She whispers and my feet fly off the wet pavement as I run across Paris. "It's so weird. There's no one else on the subway-" She suddenly goes quiet.

"Marinette? Are you there?"

All I can hear is her soft breathing. "I just heard something, Adrien. It came from the roof- AHH!"

"MARINETTE!" I scream into my phone, eyes wide with tears as I sprint faster. "What's going on?"

There's a second voice, but I don't recognize it.

"It's Hawkmoth," Marinette quickly whispers and my heart drops to my stomach. No. It can't. "Adrien—"

The line cuts.

"Mari? Mari! Are you still there?" I look down at my phone. The call disconnected. "No! Marinette!" I hold my phone tight in my hand as I run faster, my feet pounding on the pavement.

How did Hawkmoth find Marinette? What does he want with her?

I race down the stairs into the subway, slipping, and look around. There's no one here. I see Hawkmoth in the window, walking towards Marinette. I run up to the window and start pounding the glass. "Marinette!" She looks over. "Don't worry! I'll get you out!"

"How do you plan on doing that?" Plagg asks as I duck down near the tracks.

"How else? Plagg, claws out!" In a green flash I'm Cat Noir and I raise a hand to the subway. "Cataclysm! Claws in." My transformation falls as the subway fades into a dark ash. I stand by the now-empty door and reach my arm towards her. "Marinette! Grab my hand!"

Marinette leaps forward and takes my arm, crashing into me as we call together, our foreheads bumping. The subway begins to crumble into rubble. I help Marinette stand, still holding her hand, and I shake the dirt out of her hair. She's too stunned to talk.

What was Marinette doing down here with Hawkmoth? Wasn't she at school? What happened? I push those questions away as Hawkmoth starts crawling out of the debris.

"Mari, we gotta go!" I drag her out of the tunnel. It's stopped raining and I lead her to the cinema. We can hide out there until it's safe. We tip-toe in an empty theater and sit in the last row. An old movie plays on the screen. I look at Marinette and sigh in relief. She's safe. I wrap my arms around her. "Marinette, I'm so glad you're safe. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Adrien..." Marinette trails off and avoids eye contact. She goes quiet and takes in a deep breath. As she tucks loose hair behind her ear, it's then I finally notice she's wearing earrings again.

Wait... Marinette stopped wearing earrings around the same time Ladybug gave up her miraculous.

My eyes widen. Everything clicks into place. When Ladybug visited me at my photoshoot, she brought pastries from Marinette's bakery, and after that when Marinette knew where to find me at the school despite Ladybug was the one who told me to hide. The same nickname: Kitty. Marinette started calling me that after Ladybug disappeared. How didn't I put this together before?

Marinette is Ladybug.

My cheeks burn red as Marinette stares at me. "Adrien? Are you okay?" She asks.

"What? Y-Yeah, I'm fine," I whisper, scratching the back of my neck. I was right before, when I suspected Marinette of being Ladybug, but then she pulled that whole out-of-hat trick with Multimouse. Wow. She really fooled me. Truly the smartest person I know. I'm such an idiot. I should have seen it sooner and now I've ruined my chances of ever being with Marinette. I was too late. Sure, she's dating Cat Noir, and that's me, but I think she's lost all feelings for Adrien. I wish I could go back and make things right.

"I saw all the damage in Paris was fixed, so Cat Noir must have defeated Mooncaster," Marinette whispers, shifting in her seat, and I stare at her with nothing but admiration. She doesn't want to take the credit as Ladybug. She did everything.

"Yeah, he must have," I agree, but we both now it isn't true. "Too bad Ladybug wasn't around to help."

Marinette's eyes widen and she coughs and clears her throat. "Wow. Haven't heard that name in a long time. Ladybug's been gone for a while now, huh?"

Do I tell Marinette I know? Do I tell her I'm Cat Noir? It would make everything easier. All I can think of is Ladybug's warning: if we discovered our secret identities, Master Fu would take away our miraculous. I'll keep quiet for now.

Hawkmoth still needs to be defeated.

Wait. Hawkmoth. No wonder he was always after Marinette! She's not Ladybug's best friend. How did I fall for something like that?

"Do you think it's safe to go yet?" Marinette asks, standing up, and I grab her hand and pull her back down. "Adrien?"

"Not yet," I whisper, gesturing to the movie. "Why don't we wait and finish the movie? It'll buy us more time to hide."

Marinette nods. "Okay. I guess we can do that."

The longer we sit in silence, the more I want to tell Marinette everything. My mind and heart conflict with each other and I don't know what to do. Not saying anything will keep Marinette safe, but telling her will fix this complicated mess. I go to speak, but the words don't come out.

It's easier to say 'I love you' than to tell her I'm Cat Noir.