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When Master Fu had expressed his desire for Ladybug and Chat Noir to finally learn each other's identities, Marinette was apprehensive, to say the least. After close to two years of partnership, in which she'd always enforced the rule that they could not, under any circumstances, reveal themselves to each other, she was now being asked by the person who had given her that rule to break it? It didn't sit right with her. But Fu’s reasons had been justifiable, if a little cryptic (but what else was new?), so, as requested, Marinette Dupain-Cheng strolled into a mostly empty cafe on a crisp Sunday morning to properly meet her partner and best friend and break the barrier that she'd built between them from day one.
She was thankful to note that only Fu sat at the booth that would be their meeting place, and the pressure she'd put on herself to just be early for something for once, dammit had paid off. It'd be a shock to see whoever Chat was under the mask suddenly appear at the table; she knew that. But being the one that was found rather than doing the finding seemed a lot less terrifying of the two options, and she'd been hoping for some kind of vaguely worded pep talk from Master Fu before she had to brace herself anyway. She slid into the booth that mirrored Fu’s, trying to smile in response to his nod of greeting. She was pretty sure it'd resulted in more of a grimace, but that was pretty understandable and justifiable in her books.
“I still don't like this, I hope you know.”
Fu chuckled. “That's understandable. But I think it'll be good for the both of you, after hiding for so long. It would be ridiculous for the two of you to hide it for forever, but I did want to know for certain that finding out wouldn't have a detrimental impact on your partnership. And I'm sure of that now. But if you're not ready to do this-”
“Hey wait, no, if you think this is the right time, I'm not going to chicken out. I may not feel particularly ready, but I may never feel ready, so I’d rather take the opportunity now considering I’ll never know what’s going to happen until it happens. I could not even know him and have absolutely no connection, he could turn out to have been right under my nose all this time; I mean, I could hate him for all I know!”
“Me-ouch, My Lady! Such negative talk wounds me!”
“Oh, cool your jets, Kitty", she replies as she turns to face him. "I could never hate… Oh.”
Oh.
Oh, no.
Now this was not a scenario Marinette could have ever predicted. Ever.
She’d turned to face Chat immediately, completely forgetting the circumstances that had brought them here and the fact that neither of them were transformed in that moment, and in doing so, had found herself face to face with none other than Adrien Agreste.
Adrien Agreste, who she’d confessed to having feelings for almost a year ago.
Adrien Agreste, who had rejected her almost a year ago. Who she pretty much hadn’t seen at all since.
Who was currently white as a sheet, green eyes blown wide and mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“I change my mind. I was totally not at all ready for this. Is there some kind of clause to my Miraculous Cure that can reverse the past few minutes so this never ever happened? This is not cool. This is so not cool. This is-”
“Ladybug,” Fu interrupted, chuckling. “Calm down. Everything will work itself out. But it won’t happen with me third wheeling, so I’ll make myself scarce.”
“What? No, wait, but-”
Fu was gone before Marinette had even begun to protest, his small legs taking him out of the cafe at a speed that would have been admirable, had it not been used to leave Marinette in the lurch. Beside her, Chat - Adrien - cleared his throat, and when her gaze snapped over to him his expression was predominantly sheepish. Interesting..
“Um, is it alright if I sit? If-if you don’t want to talk about this now, if you’d rather process it alone that’s fine, I just-”
Marinette heaved a sigh. Ever the gentleman, this kid was. Well, mostly, she reminded herself. The memory of his sighing “I know” still echoed in her brain almost a year on. “Go ahead”, she responded, resigned to her fate. “We might as well do this now.”
He sat down opposite her, all perfect posture and manners that made Marinette somewhat sad, unexpectedly. Her feelings for him had diminished the second she’d forced them to, after he made it clear that he wasn’t interested in her that way, and she mostly hadn’t ached for the almost-friendship they once shared. But now, seeing him act so proper and formal and detached around her, regardless of the reason, definitely set off a stinging spark of nostalgia. Even when terrified about saying something stupid in front of him every time they spoke, she felt good around him. Now, facing the wall a confession and months of distance had built between them, with the added knowledge that he’d also turned out to be her partner and closest friend, a weighty pressure hung in the air, bearing down painfully on her shoulders. Now what?
“Soo….” he began hesitantly.
“Sooo..” she repeated.
“You’re.. Ladybug.”
“You’re Chat Noir.”
“I.. am.”
Marinette exhaled. “Wow.”
A shaky laugh escaped Adrien’s lips. “Yeah, you can say that again.”
They lapsed into silence again, but it felt less like it needed to be filled, because the pair’s heads were simply so full of jumbled thoughts that attempting to make sense of them took precedence over trying to figure out where to steer the conversation. Marinette couldn’t say she knew what Adrien was thinking, but hope in the possibility that things would turn out okay definitely reared its head. There were so many ways this whole thing could go horribly wrong, and she knew feigning indifference was pretty high up on that list. And although she hadn’t realised it until that moment, there was actually so much she wanted and needed to say to him, not just for her own closure, but for the sake of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s vital and extremely valuable partnership. So despite the fear that hammered against her ribcage at the thought, she made a decision. She’d do it.
“I-”
“I-”
They shared a tense laugh. “You first”, Adrien offered.
“No, you.”
Adrien stuck his tongue out at her, eyes glinting playfully. “No, you first!”
Marinette couldn’t help but laugh. “Are we seventeen or seven right now?”
Adrien’s hearty laugh hit her in a way she hadn’t expected it to. Despite everything that had gone on between them, she’d never be able to let go of the knowledge that love and happiness hadn’t always been things he possessed, and through her crush and her hurt and her acceptance, the compassion she’d always felt towards him and his home life had remained. And here, making him truly, honestly laugh, she felt as though she’d achieved some small part of that goal she’d always had to make him feel happy and cared for.
“You know what? Just say your piece before my whole spiel comes tumbling out!”
He chuckled. “Alright. Well to be honest, I just really wanted to apologise, for the way I handled everything that happened between us. I-”
“Um-”
“I thought you wanted me to go first?”
“I maybe might have… changed my mind ?” Her nervousness had returned somewhat, turning her sentences into questions as it had often done when she liked him. But she felt a need to assert herself, however timidly she did so.
He laughed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Sure.”
“Well, I just wanted to say.. I get it. It took me a while to get past the hurt of it all and get past my own insecurities telling me it was because I wasn’t good enough, but now I really do understand, and don’t blame you at all.” She took a deep breath, attempting to sort through everything she wanted to say before it all came out in a rush of incomprehensible explanations.
“I don’t really know what it’s like to be in your position, to have people adore you for simply existing as someone in the public eye with good looks and all the things people could find to like about you; Ladybug gets some “admirers” every so often, but as far as most of Paris knows, Ladybug isn’t anyone. She’s an enigma whose identity people like to construct an image of, but if people found out she was a clumsy girl who couldn’t speak around people she liked they probably straight up wouldn’t believe it. Ladybug’s.. Like, the best version of me, but no one knows we’re one and the same, so people can think all the good things they want about her, but I’ll always be separate from those.” She paused. “Am I making any sense?”
Adrien considered it. “Some,” he finally responded, an amused smile on his face.
“Good enough for me! Anyway, the point is, I, as Marinette, have no idea what it’s like to be idolised, but I feel like if I were in that kind of position, I’d be really wary of anyone who claimed to be interested in me. So, in saying that, I totally get why you responded the way you did to my confession. Because when I acted the way I did, with my painfully obvious crush, it didn’t exactly set me apart from every other adoring fan. I wanted to believe I was different, because my feelings hadn’t stemmed from your looks or your position in life or anything like that. They were feelings that were entirely anchored in the right reasons, so I let myself believe that because I liked you for your kindness and your talents and your selflessness that I wasn’t just putting you on a pedestal of unreachable proportions just like everyone else had. But I was lying to myself. I had put you on a pedestal. I idolised everything that made Adrien Agreste who he was, but felt as though I could never be good enough for you, or even be myself around you, so I got to know you through ways that didn’t involve actually forming a friendship with you, under the illusion that it was okay because I did know you, and we were sort of friends and everything. I found so many reasons to admire you, but without even realising it I used all those reasons to further push you to an unreachable point. It was bad for myself, and it was bad for you. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry. Not for having the feelings I did, but the fact that I let them stop me from treating you like a normal person.”
Marinette took a huge breath, finally having reached the conclusion of her torrent of words.
“Is.. Is that all you wanted to say?” Adrien asked timidly, a tiny smile softening his features.
“I.. guess so. Yeah, that’s the gist of it.”
“Alright. Well..” He exhaled, letting out a breath she hadn’t realised he’d been holding through her whole speech. “Wow. I mean I knew most of that, but still. Wow. Well, I think my apology still stands-”
“What? But I just-”
“Mari, you can say you understand, you can say it’s justified, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was a jerk about it.”
“Adrien, if you consider ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same’ a jerk move, you really should’ve spent the day with Chloe when she found out. You, of all people, are not and have never been a jerk.”
“But I contributed to you not feeling good enough! I hate the fact that I did that! Besides, I was a complete and total hypocrite.”
Marinette raised an eyebrow, confused. “Huh?”
Adrien leaned in conspiratorially, a cheeky grin on his face. “Can you keep a secret?”
In response he received nothing but a dry look. He laughed.
“Okay, fair point. Well, I pretty much did exactly what you did with someone else. And my affection for her was part of the reason I rejected you. Which is.. Incredibly ironic.” He took a breath as a blush bloomed on his cheeks. “You know how Chat Noir constantly flirts with Ladybug?”
Marinette’s jaw dropped. “No. Way.”
Adrien chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah.. I’ve had it bad, pretty much since we met. And yeah, we’re partners and best friends, but the fact that I didn’t know Ladybug’s civilian side and totally idolised her on this unreachable level kind of meant I was no better than everyone who does the same with me, even if I liked her for the right reasons, just like you. When you told me how you felt, I already knew, but to hear it directly from you and to immediately feel kind of annoyed- once again, sorry- well, I looked back on it not much later and realised how hypocritical it was in retrospect. But all the times I wanted to apologise and try and patch things up Alya would pull you away because she was angry on your behalf, and no longer being in the same class meant we didn’t see much of each other anyway.. And I never really knew what I’d have said, anyway. ‘Hey Marinette, sorry I was a jerk when you said you liked me but the thing is, I have a massive crush on Ladybug who doesn’t like superhero me and doesn’t know civilian me and I put her on a pedestal the same way you did so really I’m in no position to judge you but I’m just sick of people idolising me is that okay?’ never really had the best ring to it.”
Marinette laughed, seeing the full extent of the humor it all carried. “Well, at least we’ve cleared the air now.” She held out a hand across the table. “Friends?”
He took her hand with a smile, giving it a shake. “Friends.” He then stood up, his smile growing. “Now, what would My Lady like to drink?”
She made to get up to follow him to the counter, but he objected. “Uh uh uh, I’m buying, sit down.”
Marinette heaved a sigh, though the glint in her eye didn’t go unnoticed. “You don’t always have to be the most chivalrous person in the room, you know.”
“Ah, but I do have to symbolise our newly reestablished solidarity by buying you a milkshake. Besides, how many times will I ever get to go on a date with Ladybug? If paying for her today is the closest I may ever come, I’m not going to ignore the opportunity. Now what flavour?”
“Fine. Choc mint, if they have it.”
Adrien gasped, putting a hand to his chest dramatically. “I was going to get the same thing! We have so much in common, Milady!”
Marinette rolled her eyes, stifling her laugh if only for the satisfaction of pretending she didn’t find him funny. He headed to the counter, that was just far enough away that she couldn’t hear him, and as he ordered she pondered his words. The way he referred to Ladybug hadn’t changed at all, even since he’d discovered the girl behind that mask had had a painfully huge and unhealthy crush on him, and that she was really just plain old Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The thought confused and intrigued her, and the honesty they’d laid out on the table so far was so raw and freely given that she kind of felt as though she could dare to ask about it. He returned to the table with a self satisfied grin and she used the opportunity.
“You still talk about Ladybug as if nothing has changed.”
He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“You act as though you’d be lucky to ever get a date with Ladybug, even though you know know she’s just.. Anyway, what I mean is that it’s entirely possible to hang out like this more often, but I guess.. I’m surprised you still want to.. You know?”
He sat down again, suddenly solemn. “You act as though Marinette and Ladybug are so vastly different one couldn’t possibly choose Marinette having met Ladybug. That’s not true!”
“Isn’t it?” She couldn’t help the muttered question, still a little bitter. One afternoon of apologies and explanations didn’t change everything, after all.
“Of course not! The proof sits next to you every day! As far as people who don’t know our identities are concerned, Alya cares more about Ladybug than anybody in all of Paris. But do you know who’s more important to Alya than Ladybug? You, Marinette! You know that for a fact. Being someone who saves a city while masked up is incredible, but the fact that most people don’t know who’s behind the mask doesn’t invalidate that person’s worth! So you had an awkward crush. So what? I did too, and the fact that for me it was a superhero most people didn’t think I even knew made it all the more embarrassing to talk about. But that doesn’t lessen Ladybug’s worth, and it certainly doesn’t lessen Marinette’s. Especially since she had the guts to acknowledge the truth of her feelings not only to herself, but to the very guy that she’d liked so much she couldn’t speak to before! I’d think that makes her pretty brave. And seeing as she was a selfless, funny, endlessly kind, smart person and a joy to be around even before she put herself out there in such a courageous way, I can’t think of any reason someone wouldn’t want to date the girl behind Ladybug’s mask.”
Marinette blinked. “Wow.” The pair blushed simultaneously and Adrien’s hand found the back of his neck again.
“Too much?”
“No, I just.. Never thought I’d hear words like that from you-or anyone other than my family, really. You know what I mean?”
Adrien’s expression turned quizzical. “No?”
“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “Gorgeous model and all that. Of course.”
“No, I mean,” he paused, frowning, “I don’t understand you being surprised that someone would say that to you. You do realise practically every guy in our class last year had a thing for you, right?”
Marinette scoffed. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll believe that when I see it.”
But Adrien’s expression was entirely serious, and almost disbelieving. “I’m not joking, Marinette. You know Nino liked you, before he and Alya almost did whatever they almost did- hey, now that we’re friends again, can we get the gang back together and make sure they don’t chicken out of things this time?”
“Oh, hell yeah!”
“Great. Anyway, Nino liked you for a minute there, Nathanael literally drew comics of him as a superhero saving you and being adored by you, Kim was super into you until-”
“But he and Alix are dating now!”
“ Until he realised his and Alix’s banter was so full of romantic tension it was ridiculous, and then there’s literally only Max and Ivan left. Ivan had Mylene on his mind from the start, so he was probably the only exception, but I’ve literally overheard conversations between Kim and Max in the locker room where they talked about the girls in our class, and Max has described, in his own methodical, fact-based way, of course, the reasons you’re an attractive person. You were class president, everyone stood up for you when Chloe was a jerk; Marinette, you were literally the most popular girl in our class.”
Marinette gaped, face even warmer than it’d been earlier. “You’re serious?”
“Completely! I don’t know how you didn’t notice it.”
“I don’t know how you did!”
“I’m more observant than I look. Kind of had to be; I was at public school, surrounded by people that were actually my age, for the first time in my life. Social cues were kind of a thing I needed to know. And they usually told me that you were everyone’s favourite person.”
“Well, I feel entirely blind and stupid now.”
Adrien laughed. “Crazy how much you can miss when you’re so focused on one person, right? I feel like the fact that I didn’t even put two and two together with your identity is just ridiculous. I mean, you used to do your hair exactly the same. Red ribbons and all! And I was supposed to know everything about the girl I claimed to love. Couldn’t even see that she sat right behind me.”
“I think the fact that I legitimately never realised all your flirting as Chat towards Ladybug was actually genuine totally tops that.. Now, knowing who you are I can’t imagine you ever flirting with someone you weren’t actually interested in, but truth be told until you said it outright today I had no idea you actually had feelings for me. Well, her. Us?”
Adrien laughed. “Okay, yeah, that wins.” A waitress then approached with their milkshakes, followed closely behind by another carrying two plates of pancakes, and Marinette turned to Adrien with a raised eyebrow.
“You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”
He shrugged. “I wanted pancakes! And I couldn’t very well only buy myself some!”
“When I let you pay it was for one milkshake! Not a giant plate stacked with pancakes!”
“I figured you were probably as hungry as I am, so.. Unless you don’t need breakfast? I could probably fit both of these somewhere; I happen to have a pretty big appetite.” He smirked, and her eyebrow quirked in an automatic response.
“Is that a challenge, Agreste?”
“Call it what you will, Dupain-Cheng. But I’m pretty sure I’ll have finished this before you.”
“Oh, you’re on, pretty boy.”
-----
The next morning, Marinette was ready. She’d elected not to tell Alya immediately about her and Adrien’s newfound friendship, choosing instead to shock first and explain later, and she was pretty excited about the prospect. She’d even gotten to school early for it! If ten minutes could really be considered early, anyway. She’d found Alya at her locker immediately, surprising her with some of her favourites from the bakery to get on her good side before the inevitable “what the hell?!” occurred, and began chatting incessantly about small things in an attempt to distract her from the fact that she was leading her away from the classroom and closer to the front of the school. Eventually she caught on, of course, but the timing was pretty perfect, if Marinette did say so herself.
“Mari, girl, you realise you’re headed in precisely the wrong direction for class, right?”
Marinette turned to Alya, a smug grin on her face. “I know.”
“Anyway, so then we basically had an eating competition,” she heard her target begin as he approached with Nino, “which, of course, I-”
“Adrien freaking Agreste.”
His head turned immediately in her direction, his surprised expression that quickly morphed into a smirk almost causing her steely facade to fall, and the worried look she could somewhat see on Alya’s face out of the corner of her eye only increasing her desire to laugh.
“If I hear you say you beat me in that competition I will expose you for the lying jerk you are.” Now, she could tell Alya was seriously concerned, but Adrien simply laughed.
“Okay, so, yeah, it was more of a tied game than I planned on letting on..”
“A tie?! I beat you fair and square, Adonis!” The pair approached each other, not entirely aware they were doing so, matching challenging smirks drawing closer and closer together.
“Adonis? Princess, how generous of you!”
By this point they were practically nose to nose, and as she prepared her final blow, her expression grew even more smug.
“Yeah, I'm pretty kind, aren't I? I mean, I could've always gone for 'alley cat' instead, so if I were you…” Here she paused, cool breath fanning over his face as she drew closer; “I'd be on my best behaviour.”
“Um.”
The pair of heroes turned, suddenly reminded of the presence of their friends. Nino looked only somewhat surprised, having heard most of the story they'd formulated already, but Alya was incredulous.
“What the hell? What the hell ?!”
Adrien laughed, slinging an arm around Marinette's shoulder. “Princess, you haven't told Alya we're best buds now yet?”
Marinette rolled her eyes, removing Adrien’s arm. “I don't know about 'best buds’.. but yeah, I've got some stuff to catch you up on, Alya.”
“Hell yeah you do!”
Marinette left Adrien's side, heading over to her still shocked best friend. “We're all having lunch together today though!”
“You got it, Mari!” Nino replied. The group separated into their respective pairs, heading to their classes, and Alya pulled Marinette to her.
“How and when and where did you find the guts or desire to speak in complete sentences around Adrien Agreste , and how are you now flirting like best friends with a shit ton of unresolved sexual tension?!” She hissed.
Marinette laughed. “Okay, it's totally not sexual tension; it's just banter!”
Alya raised an eyebrow.
“Really, it's not like that!”
“I’ll have you know I totally don't agree with you, but I'd rather hear this story than waste my time arguing. So spill.”
“Well, I was out yesterday morning-”
“Morning? You? Out? In the morning ?”
“Would you shut up and let me tell my story?!”
Alya huffed. “Fine.”
“Anyway, I was out wandering and sketching and stuff and I found myself near a cafe, so I thought I'd grab breakfast. Went in, found myself a table, got settled in and who should walk in and find me? Adrien, of course. He approached me super hesitantly because he was worried I'd hate him for the way things all went down, but I let him sit down because he asked if we could talk, and yeah! We talked everything through, he apologised about how he handled things, I told him about the whole epiphany I'd had and how I totally understood him being put off by my feelings and everything, and you know what he told me?”
Alya was enthralled. “What?”
“He has the biggest, most painfully embarrassing crush on Ladybug, ever. I mean, most people do, but apparently the few times he'd met her or been around her he couldn't even speak to her the same way I couldn't with him! And he told me that not long after I told him how I felt he considered everything, the way his crush on Ladybug was like a celebrity crush, although he always wanted to think it was more than that, and how he wasn't really in any position to judge me and my feelings for him, because I at least knew him pretty well and my feelings for him weren't rooted in superficial things, and then yeah, I don't know. We just kept talking, ended up having breakfast together, raced to finish first, which I won despite all his lies to the contrary, and somehow were able to be more comfortable together than we ever have been before because we'd been so honest and broken down this huge barrier. So you don't have to pretend you don't miss Nino anymore, because the squad can hang out again now!”
“Okay, Nino comment aside, because you won't be getting away with that but it's not what's important right now- I'm so proud of you, girl! And now that you're flirting like there's no tomorrow he'll be declaring his love for you in no time!”
“Oh my gosh, that is so not what I'm trying to get out of this, or what's going to happen. I told you, we're not like that! I am capable of being friends with him without falling all over him now, you know! And just because I can actually string sentences together with him now doesn't mean I'm suddenly irresistible!”
“Oh girl, you know not your own allure. Don't you know why our entire class was in love with you last year?”
“How did I not know about that, by the way? Adrien said something about it yesterday and I thought he was joking. Am I completely oblivious?”
“You know the answer to that is yes, babe. But anyway, what I was going to say was, you're so much more desirable than you even realise. Even without your confidence, you're gorgeous, funny, talented, and probably the sweetest person in all of Francois Dupont. Put someone like that in front of someone, and then add the flirty confidence you totally exude when you're comfortable enough to banter with someone and there's literally no reason any guy wouldn't melt in a puddle at your feet. You probably had Chat Noir reconsidering his devotion to Ladybug when the two of you took down Evillustrator!”
Marinette snorted. “Okay, I highly doubt that . But you really think so? I'm just.. I don't know, I'm just Marinette! The thought that so many people.. I'll be honest, this is gonna take some getting used to.”
Alya simply laughed. “Of course it is. At least your stupid amounts of insecurity keep you grounded. Yet another part of your charm, I suppose. Too much confidence is off-putting, apparently.” She laughed at the end of her own statement, but it was a somewhat bitter laugh. Her brazen, self-assured personality, while inspiring to Marinette, had been known to grate on some of the classmates in their new class this year. She pretended it didn’t get to her, but Marinette knew it had to be a bit of a sore spot. She bumped her shoulder with her own, her eyes glittering with mischief.
“It’s a good thing Nino loves a confident girl, isn’t it?”
Alya blushed bright red, shoving her friend away. “I don’t like Nino like that!”
Marinette hummed, still as smug as ever. “Sure you don’t, of course not. But I’d be willing to bet you two will be dating before the school year ends.”
Now it was Alya’s turn to scoff. “Two can play at that game, babe. Twenty euros. If Nino asks me out first, you win. Adrien asks you out first, and I win.”
Marinette grinned. “You’ve got yourself a deal, honey.”
---
She tried her best not to look too smug when Nino pulled Alya aside about a month later, and the hand behind his neck and their matching blushes made it very clear to Marinette and Adrien exactly what was going on. Really, she tried.
Alya, on the other hand, didn’t even try to hide her smirk when Adrien followed in Nino’s footsteps later that week, stammering through a confession Alya was mercifully too far away to hear (there were a few too many cat and bug related puns in there to have not aroused suspicion). Marinette said yes, of course, having formed a closer friendship than she could’ve ever imagined with both her partner in crime-fighting and the boy she’d once idolised, and having also come to terms with the fact that there was no escaping the irrevocable bond that drew them to each other. The fact that he’d found himself in the same place she had, coming full circle on his feelings for both the spotted heroine and the girl behind the mask and deciding he actually wanted something to come of it, made her own feelings a little easier to reconcile. Tikki had told her once she’d become aware of her own crush that it wasn’t all that surprising; all Ladybugs and Chat Noirs were soulmates of a sort, two halves of a whole that so often found their way into each other’s hearts, regardless of whether they wanted to or not. Marinette was simply grateful that they'd both had their epiphanies sooner rather than later. Even if it did ensure Alya’s smug satisfaction.
“Didn't I call it? I totally called it. Who called it? I did.”
“Whatever, babe. I still won our bet. I don't recall receiving that €20 though…”
“You only won by three days!”
“Three days is three days, and a bet is a bet. Cough it up, girl.”
Alya huffed. “Fine. But I'm telling everyone at your wedding that I was the first to predict all of this.”
Marinette heard the faintest of sounds from her purse; surely a muffled protest from Tikki, and smiled knowingly. “Whatever you say, Alya.”