Chapter Text
“Adrien, please.” Seated at Adrien’s hospital bedside, Gabriel fidgeted in Adrien’s peripheral vision. His father never fidgeted for any reason, but he also tended to shower every day, and that clearly wasn’t happening either. The man looked haggard, with wrinkles lining his face as if etched there by a fork. Bags had taken up residence under his eyes. “Please.”
Adrien bit a hole in his lip. His father had never said please to him before today, and as the word was intended to, the word tore at the boy’s heartstrings. Drawing a shallow breath--his chest still ached when he breathed deeply--Adrien turned his head on his pillow to face his father.
“Why’d you do it?” Adrien’s voice cracked from disuse. Certainly not the tears; Adrien would deny those to kingdom come. “Why’d you do it, Dad?”
Gabriel flinched, which brought a sick sense of satisfaction to Adrien’s mind. His father wrung his hands together. “I’ve told you. It was for you.”
Adrien bit back a snarl. Gabriel had told Adrien about his mother in the basement, and that Gabriel had become Hawkmoth because he wanted her back. The only reason he wasn’t in jail yet was that Adrien would have to move to London with his aunt if he was removed from Gabriel’s care.
Adrien was beginning to wonder if that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.
“No. It was for you and you know it.” Adrien bit his lip and felt the sting of the hole that he’d bitten in it earlier. “You terrorized an entire city based on your own inability to let go of the past. You couldn’t even pay attention to what you had in the present.”
Gabriel clenched his fist around his white pants, bunching the fabric. With his other hand, he removed his cravat, revealing the lack of a Butterfly Miraculous. “The funeral’s on Monday.”
Adrien started, his eyes flying wide open. His father had–up until that point–refused to acknowledge that his mother had died. What had changed? “W-What?”
Gabriel’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “I’m sorry, son. I’m sorry.” Tears rolled off his stubbly chin. “I’m ready to atone for my mistakes.” His lower lip quivered. “And I’m sorry about… Marinette. Threatening her. Hurting her family.”
“I will never forgive you for that.” Tears burned hot in Adrien’s eyes, bright pinpricks of pain. His rage was a star primed to explode, festering in his heart and just waiting for the right moment. But Marinette didn’t want that. “But she wants to forgive you. So, maybe, I sho--”
Someone knocked on the door frame. “Is this a bad time?” Ladybug glared at Gabriel as if daring him to lay a finger on his son. Adrien smiled, happy to see her and marveling at her strength. Her shoulders were thrown back and her fists were clenched at her sides, showing her beautiful determination to protect him.
The man stood, gathering his white coat from the back of his chair. “No, I was just leaving.” He nodded to the superheroine. “Ladybug.”
“Hawkmoth.” Ladybug wrinkled her nose as he stepped past her, looking adorable to Adrien. “Take a shower; you stink.”
Gabriel chuckled wetly. “Thanks for your concern.” He turned back to pat her shoulder and she stiffened even further. Adrien let loose a low growl, and Gabriel withdrew his hand. “Take care, son.”
Gabriel dithered at the doorway, so Ladybug stepped into the room and shut the door in his face. Adrien’s laughter cracked across the room, making her smile.
Ladybug looked just as haggard as Gabriel had. She crossed to the chair and sagged down into it, her shoulders slumped and a sigh escaping her lips.
Adrien took her hand, happy to see her regardless of what she looked like. “Hello, lovely.”
She smiled again, her eyes shining with adoration. “Hey.” Ladybug squeezed his fingers. “How are you feeling?”
“Restless.” Adrien waggled his toes under the blanket, knowing he couldn’t exactly sit up yet. “They’re not letting me go just yet, and I’m so bored here.”
Ladybug pursed her lips. “Do you want me to bring you another Sudoku book?”
Adrien shook his head. “No, thank you. How are the press conferences? Have people stopped baying for Hawkmoth’s blood yet?”
“Uggggh.” Ladybug cradled her head in her hand, so Adrien tucked her hair behind her ear, hoping to give her some reassurance. “The press conferences are terrible. You handle the camera so much better than I do.”
Adrien rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, delighting in the feeling of her glove under his fingers. “Do you need Chat to make an appearance?”
Ladybug bit a hole in her beautiful, kissable lips, which Adrien hated to see her do. “Yes. But also no. Not until you’re fully healed.”
She brought his hand up to her lips and brushed them against his wrist, making his skin tingle. “I’m not going to lie to you, Adrien, Paris is worried about Chat. But I refuse to let you expose yourself to whatever other villains are out there until I know you can take a hit.”
Adrien grinned cheekily at her, knowing he’d caught her with her suit down, so to speak. “So you’re allowing me to take hits for you?”
“I didn’t say that.” Her tone was scathing, making Adrien bark out a contented laugh. Ladybug booped his nose, so he wrinkled it. “I don’t want you hurt, Adrien. You have such a martyr complex.”
Adrien huffed, annoyed. “I don’t have a martyr com--”
Ladybug pressed her lips against his, silencing him. When she pulled away, she was giving him a pained grimace. “You do, though.”
She stroked his cheek, her brow smoothing out as she leaned in for another kiss, which Adrien wasn’t about to argue against. Giving him a hooded look that jump started his heart, she traced his jawline with a gloved finger. “But we can tackle that later,” she soothed. “Right now…”
“Right now,” Adrien murmured, threading his fingers through her dark, silken hair, “I really want to kiss you.”
Ladybug’s tongue darted out and licked his lips, shooting fire through his veins. He covered her mouth with his and breathed in her air, which tasted heavily of coffee. The angle of her head was slightly awkward, as she was sitting in a chair by his bedside, but after she rose to her feet, she leaned over to slant her lips against his.
“Mmm.” Adrien hummed against her, allowing her to take the lead in their kissing. He didn’t want to move much, as that would tweak his wound, but Ladybug never minded. Adrien’s passion for her wasn’t dampened, and she knew that; he was just unable to express his ardor through movements like letting his hands roam over her back and pressing her close to his chest.
For the moment. Adrien couldn’t wait until he was fully healed.
Still, he stroked her cheekbones and carded his fingers through her hair as often as he could, tangling his tongue with hers. Their kisses were light and sweet, thrilling Adrien and promising more. Ladybug handled him in a way that was gentle and compassionate, sucking on his bottom lip in a long, drawn out movement that curled his toes.
Ladybug braced herself on the bed with one hand, running her other fingers over the shell of his ear. Goosebumps rose on Adrien’s arms, and he allowed himself to moan into her mouth. He began to sit up, but she laughed against him, drawing back.
“Hey...” Adrien panted, already regretting the lack of her warm lips against his own. “Are we done? Why are we done?”
Ladybug cupped his cheek, smiling down at him. “I don’t want you to sit up, Kitty.”
Adrien frowned, irritated that she felt she had to handle him with kid gloves. “I’m not some porcelain doll.”
Ladybug shook her head, her hair ribbons bouncing with the motion. “No, you’re not. But…” She drew a breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth. She was so close, Adrien tasted coffee again. “The doctors had to re-inflate one of your lungs. I’ll not have you pop a stitch just because I want to suck your face.”
Saucy grin in place, Ladybug winked at him. “We can get back to it when you’re fully healed and we’re dating.”
Adrien beamed up at her. He settled more firmly against the pillow so she wouldn’t have any reason to fuss. “When we’re dating?”
Ladybug nodded shyly. “With Hawkmoth out of the way, we can date without worrying about one of us being compromised.”
“Ladybug and Adrien, making out incognito.” Adrien laughed, and she laughed with him. “We’ve really come full circle, haven’t we?”
“We have, yes.”
“It’s been a long journey.” Adrien brought her knuckles to his lips and pressed a kiss theore, sealing her as his with his affection. “But I wouldn’t have wanted to make it with anyone but you.”
“Adrien,” Ladybug said, leaning forward to whisper into his ear and sending a thrill through him. “I love you.”
“Ladybug,” Adrien whispered back, more happy than he truly deserved. “I love you, too.”
Even wounded as he was, Adrien wouldn’t change anything that had happened for the world. Their past had become their shared present, and their shared future promised to be bright.
Exchanging sweet nothings with his Lady in a hospital bed, Adrien was right where he wanted to be.
THE END