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Without wanting to sound conceited, Adrien was used to having fans. He was no longer surprised when he got recognised on the street, when people asked for his autograph and for a picture with him. To be honest, most of the time it was a surreal experience.
Why would these people, who didn’t even know him, chant his name and treat him as some higher being? Just because he was a model and his face was on every corner in Paris? It just didn’t make sense. Especially since he couldn’t remember ever being a fan of someone.
Well, until he met Ladybug. But that was different. He was in love with her and she wasn’t just a pretty face he was watching on videos or from afar. He liked to think that he knew her. Not fully, but at least that part of her that she was comfortable with revealing to him.
Another person he admired greatly and maybe could fit that category was Marinette. She was so talented and popular and absolutely great at everything she did, she was like a celebrity in his eyes. He’d even asked for her autograph after all! But she was also a friend, he could proudly say. She wasn’t just a name somewhere that he didn’t know could reveal a nervous laughter and rosy cheeks. He knew her.
Apparently, people didn’t need this level of familiarity with someone to call themselves fans.
He hadn’t been surprised when soon after Ladybug and Chat Noir first appeared in Paris, fans of the superheroes followed as well.
Of course, it was his lady that had the most fans and in his eyes it was fully deserved. She was incredible and he was happy that people appreciated that. Well, one time he’d been a bit jealous because of one overzealous fan in particular and he wasn’t proud of that moment, but most of the time he was glad that she could see how much people loved her.
He loved teasing her about it, saying that if she wasn’t there with him, people wouldn’t even notice him. And how of course everyone was a fan of Ladybug (with him as the biggest one) so it was no wonder that she had not one but a few fan clubs. At least.
Her response to this was very predictable - they were superheroes, not celebrities. And besides, they were a team. She was sure that fan clubs were full of people who loved him as much as they did her. He appreciated this, especially coming from her, but replied that he didn’t mind being more in the shadows. After all, he got plenty of attention in his civilian life, he didn’t need more.
Until it turned out that she’d taken it personally. All of a sudden, Ladybug appeared to be on a mission to prove to him that he had as many fans as she did.
“Here, kitty, look what I found,” she said one night on patrol, handing him a flyer that made him do a double take.
“The Chat Noir fan club!” He read around, not able to hide his surprise. At the existence of the thing itself but also at how professionally made the flyer looked. “This is seriously good,” he gushed, looking over the glossy paper in his hand.
“Thanks,” she mumbled and then laughed awkwardly. “Um, I mean, it’s impressive, right? I did nothing about this, of course. Apparently fans got together on their own and now meet every week.”
“Freaky,” he chuckled, still trying to wrap his head around that. He couldn’t imagine what it could be like.
“See, people love you, no matter how much you don’t want to believe it,” she declared proudly.
At first, he didn’t think much about it. After all, there were Adrien Agreste fan clubs, one even headed by Wayhem. And he didn’t pay much attention to what happened there.
But when the next Thursday rolled around and he remembered the meeting place he’d seen on the flyer, Adrien got curious. It couldn’t hurt to have a look, right? What was more, he was certain that his fans wouldn’t mind seeing him there if they gathered there to sing his praises.
What greeted him when he went to the address, still surprised him. It wasn’t because there were quite a few people there, although this was something he hadn’t expected. He’d thought that it was a group of 10 at most playing around.
It was the way people greeted him, visibly happy to see him. It made him smile until his mouth hurt. But most of all, he was surprised by the one everyone referred to as the founder of the fanclub.
“Marinette!” He gasped, when she came out of the back room.
“Chat… Noir!” She exclaimed, equally surprised to see him there. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought this was a club of my fans,” he chuckled. “I just wanted to meet my fans.”
“How nice! We just didn’t expect you here,” she giggled.
“I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable,” he added quickly, looking at the awestruck faces around him. “It’s just that Ladybug told me about this and I got curious..”
“Ladybug knows as well! How cool!” A girl cried out.
“It’s no bother. You can stay. I’m sure people have lots they would like to ask you,” Marinette smiled. And just like that, he had another incentive to stay.
They didn’t stay long. It was a school night and Adrien was glad that he didn't have to think of an excuse to leave early because he had patrol later.
But he couldn’t leave Marinette to go home alone without thanking her for all that she’d done.
“You don’t need to!” She squeaked, reminding him once again what an adorable mouse she’d been, when he picked her up and jumped on a nearby rooftop on the way to the bakery.
“You set up a whole fan club, Marinette, this is nothing,” he laughed.
“You deserve it,” she said, her voice quiet, but not enough for him not to hear it.
“I’m happy you think so,” he said as he let her step down on her balcony.
“Come in,” she said, waving for him to follow her inside her room.
“I have to go.. “
“Not yet.”
Huh. She was right, of course. But how did she know?
When he followed her inside her room, his eyes immediately found her wall of photos. Which reminded him that Marinette was also an Adrien Agreste fan. Seeing the Chat Noir fan club flyer up there with the other photos, though, made him happier than he could have expected.
It clicked in his head immediately. Of course she’d made that flyer! And then it had ended up with Ladybug, who for some strange reason had thanked him as if she had been the one to make it..
His eyes followed Marinette as she walked around her room, picking up discarded objects and muttering about some “little rascals”.
“I mean, the children I look after sometimes,” she laughed.
But he already suspected more. There was something different about her room. In particular a box that seemed to hide something. What if his previous hunch had been right? She’d somehow tricked him with the mouse. But what if she was actually Ladybug?
Her setting up a whole fan club after going to all the trouble to convince him that he had as many fans as she did, made so much sense. So did her giving him the flyer. And her having little, naughty creatures flying around her room and causing chaos. And her knowing what time patrol usually happened.
“Thank you once again for your hard work,” he said softly. “I had a great time tonight.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Although you didn’t have to go to all this trouble just to show me that I have fans, m’lady,” he continued casually as he got behind her.
“How else were you going to believe me?” She sighed and then it hit her and she whirled around. “Wait! How do you know?”
“Lots of signs pointing to this,” he said, a finger tapping her earring.
“Oh damn. This is an even bigger disaster then,” she groaned.
“Wait, why was it a disaster before?” He asked.
“Because I found out that maybe I don’t like people gushing over you that much,” she said, looking away. But it was enough for him to catch the blush that dusted her cheeks.
“Why?”
“Because they don’t know you! And yet some of them were saying how you saved them once and they were basically friends with you or something and I felt… jealous,” she finished in a whisper.
He understood that feeling very well. But he hadn’t expected it from her.
“And the worst thing was that I couldn’t tell them that you’re a lot more just a pretty face and abs,” she coughed, trying to cover up the word and blushing so hard that he did his best not to laugh out loud.
“And here I thought that they admired my fighting technique. Do you know what’s funny though?” He said, changing the subject. “You were already a fan of mine.”
He tilted his head to the photos on her wall.
It took her a few seconds of looking between the wall and him but she finally had the answer. It was obvious because her mouth fell open but she didn’t say anything.
“Surprise?” He chuckled, feeling awkward all of a sudden when she still didn’t react. “M’lady?”
“No way,” she cried out, startling him. “I fell for you twice!”
“Um.” It was his turn to be speechless.
“So not fair,” she grumbled.
“Look, I also had a thing for a certain mouse that did a great job of fooling me,” he smirked, recovering from the initial surprise. After all, it was a great one! He had a reason to celebrate, more than one in fact.
“You did? Also, yes, I’m sorry about that, but I had to.”
“I know, I know. So being a fan was just a cover-up before?” He teased her, remembering how vehemently she'd denied her being more than a fan.
“Oh, no. Not that. Yes, I just… couldn’t tell you, sorry.”
“And then you made a Chat Noir fan club. That’s some great irony there.”
“Har har, I get it.”
“So, m’lady. Since it’s already time for patrol, would you join me?” There they would have more time to talk.
“Of course.”
She transformed right in front of him, before Tikki could so much as wave at him, and for a second Adrien was worried that his heart was going to stop. This was so much better than anything he’d ever imagined. It was certainly a new beginning for them.
“Wow.”
“Just a second,” she said when he headed upstairs.
“What?”
When he turned around though, she didn’t answer. At least not with words. Instead, she kissed him and yes, this was totally going to be the end of him.
“You deserve all the fans,” she said afterwards, looking intently at him. “If it hadn’t been me, someone else would have done it, ok?”
“I already have enough fan clubs, remember,” he chuckled.
“Still.”
“Also, you know who I want to be my biggest fan,” he said, pulling her into his arms.
“Not Wayhem?” She asked with a cheeky smile.
“He’s a great friend, but no.”
“Who then?”
“You.”
“You are lucky then, kitty. Because I’m already your biggest fan,” she grinned.
Well, this deserved another kiss. And another. What if they were late for patrol? They were their own bosses. A few minutes (more like ten or twenty) wouldn’t matter, not at all.
The best thing? His lady obviously agreed full-heartedly with him.