Celebrity Status - Ch 12: Something Important to Tell You

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This chapter was written for @ladrienjune Day 28: Sharing Secrets. I'm super excited to bring this story to a close for all of you! I had a lot of fun with it and I hope you do as well!

Chapter 12: Something Important to Tell You

Once out of hearing range, Adrien was tempted to find the nearest alleyway, transform, and storm Marinette's balcony. But Ladybug might not forgive Chat for figuring out her identity. It was safer to do this as Adrien.

He would have gotten to the bakery faster if they had eaten at school, but it ended up not mattering because Marinette wasn’t home. 

He ended up back on the streets, wandering aimlessly. 

He texted Marinette, but she didn’t respond. 

A few minutes later, Ladybug was seen swinging overhead. And he grinned. Time for a new plan. 

Celebrity Status - Ch 11: Don't Cry

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This chapter was written for @ladrienjune Day 22: Fragile. One scene gave me some grief, so I'm again late. But I'm super excited to bring this update to you! I had a lot of fun with it.

Chapter 11: Don't Cry

Marinette read through her handwritten note only to immediately crush it into a ball. It said too much. If anyone ever read it, they’d know Adrien was the perfect hostage for Ladybug. She couldn’t commit any of that to paper. 

But she couldn’t visit him either. The scandal itself proved that even when they thought they were alone someone might see. And anyone seeing her coming and going from the mansion at all, and his window in particular would be just as incriminating as a love letter.

Her throat clogged closed as the tears took over again. She didn’t know how many times she had fallen to pieces. She had lost count. It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t even break up with him properly! The world had to steal that from her as well? 

But she had to tell him something . She grabbed another piece of paper, ignoring the tears running down her cheeks. 

…

Celebrity Status - Ch 10: Scandal

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This chapter was written for @ladrienjune Day 6: Social Media. This is a bit late, a bit rushed, a lot longer than I thought it was going to be and not at all proofread! But I'm super excited to bring this update to you! I had a lot of fun with it.

Chapter 10 - Scandal

Marinette woke up to 26 notifications on her phone. 

What the hell had happened?! It couldn’t be anything good with that many notifications. She had texts and messages from pretty much all the girls. Rose alone had sent her eight of the messages, but one name stood out amongst the rest. 

Alya: 

Like, seriously! What the hell had happened?! Alya was mad at her, not talking to her at all. And now she was worried? 

Marinette eyes swept over the text again and again even when the words blurred. 

Alya was talking to her. So whatever this was it had to be terrible. Had someone discovered her identity? 

She tore through the other messages looking for context. 

Rose: 

Mylene: 

Rose: 

Juleka: 

Alix: 

But why? She took in a breath, feeling slightly relieved. If it was to do with Adrien it couldn’t be that bad.

Celebrity Status - Ch 9: One Last Kiss

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I was going to post this one tomorrow for the @ladrienjune Day 2 - prompt, Gorgeous, but honestly that one is a little bit of a stretch. And I read caterinawrite's Ladrien June story (go read it! It's starting off so cute!!), and she felt empowered to write for prompts that aren't today. AND I just wanted there to more stuff out today on Day 1!! Because IT'S LADRIEN JUNE!!! And I'm excited!!

This chapter lines up nicely with Day 18 - Secret Relationship and Day 29 - Make Out. Like really well.

Chapter 9: One Last Kiss

Ladybug touched down softly on Adrien’s bedroom floor. He didn’t notice immediately, his attention on his computer screen. 

She let herself just watch him for a moment. Locks of his hair fell out of place and into his eyes, just a less than perfect enough to be endearing. He was reading something and his expression was natural, resting, and just so relaxed. She rarely ever saw him like this.

She smiled fondly, and made herself knock on the window behind her. 

He whirled towards her, his face lighting up like sunshine first creeping over the horizon in the morning. 

Something in her chest twisted - something both warm and sad at once. 

She loved him a little more each day. She didn’t want to end this thing that they had.

She had already lost Alya. Why did she give everything up? 

And so she didn’t stop him when his arms circled around her waist, when his lips found hers. 

He clearly meant for the kiss to be chaste - a sweet greeting to his quasi girlfriend. It was Ladybug who deepened it.

If she was only going to get one more kiss, she needed it to be out of this world. She needed to feel it in her toes. She wanted him to always remember it. 

Celebrity Status: Ch 8 - Two Truths and a Lie

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |

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Chapter 8: Two Truths and a Lie

Adrien heard the tap on his window. A grin immediately bloomed across his face even before he turned to her. 

She liked him. She knew him in her regular life and she liked him. 

He let her in, still grinning like an idiot.

“You’re in a good mood,” she observed, smiling back at him. 

“You’re here. How could my day get any better?” Was it too much? Maybe, but he couldn’t give her more of an explanation.

Pink dusted her cheeks, and she glanced away. 

His heart jumped in his chest. Had he always been able to do that? Because she liked him! And he just hadn’t noticed, hadn’t realized he was the luckiest boy in all of Paris?

“How can I be of service?” he asked, his smile still in full force. He needed to find some chill before she assumed he was happy that she was having problems.  

She bit her lip. “I umm… I need your help.” 

Celebrity Status: Ch 7 - Hiding

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

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Chapter 7: Hiding

I can’t believe Ladybug dropped someone! 

Omg! Ladybug dropped an actual person! 

Adrien wanted to reach through his screen and shake these people! They clearly weren’t watching the same video he was. She hadn’t dropped him. He had fought her, and when he won because she wasn’t actually trying to fight back, he fell. 

Not her fault. 

She probably wouldn’t see it that way though. 

Celebrity Status: Ch 6 - Just Another Day

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

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Chapter 6: Just Another Day

“Who wakes up thinking I’m totally cut out to be a superhero?!” Ladybug asked. “No one. Certainly not me,” Ladybug said, laughing. 

Adrien winced and x-ed out of the tab. He knew her comments hadn’t landed well before any commentary or analysis came out. 

This was all his fault.

Turned out that while humility and self-deprecating humor played well for a wealthy privileged male teen model, the same traits were not admired in a female superhero tasked with saving the city over and over again. 

He probably should quit as her PR coach before he made things worse, and he’d have to figure out how to make it up to her. 

Celebrity Status: Ch 5 - Public Opinion

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

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Chapter 5: Public Opinion

“If you think about it, everyone else’s bad day ends up being my bad day!”

Marinette slammed her laptop closed before she could hear the commentary that she was needlessly cruel to an innocent girl, or a terrible role model to all of Paris. 

She had already heard it all. 

“A classic case of victim blaming.” 

“I’m so disappointed. I looked up to her. But now she is canceled.” 

“I can’t believe Ladybug could be so dismissive. She was so mean to the akuma victim. I thought she was better than that.”

Even her own maman hadn’t spared a thought for Ladybug. 

“That poor girl,” she had said. “She’s already having an awful day after becoming an akuma.” 

And it wasn’t like her maman was wrong, but Marinette wished she had also noticed that Ladybug must have been having a terrible day as well to snap like that. 

And that terrible day hadn’t ended when the sun went down because she couldn’t escape it. The criticism was everywhere. It was online, on the news, and she hadn’t even been to school yet. Everyone had something to say about it. And admittedly, she had screwed up. She knew that. She knew that the second she had said it. 

That was why she had apologized instantly, but did anyone ever play that part of the clip? 

Noooo! 

Celebrity Status: Ch 4 - Snapping Point

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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Chapter 4: Snapping Point

Since her parents had already missed her, Marinette came back home through the front door as herself. She didn’t need them wondering more than they already did how she got in and out of her room. 

Her parents were in the kitchen. Her papa was putting away dishes while maman cooked. They both stopped when she came in. 

“Are you alright?” her maman asked before anything else and the guilt surged in Marinette’s gut. 

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.” 

“It would be easier not to worry if you told us where you were going.”

Marinette's lips pressed together in a flat line. She couldn’t ask to leave when they were going to say no. She didn’t have time to discuss it when the akuma alert was going off. 

“So where were you?” her maman asked. 

“I went to the concert.” 

“No, you didn’t. I called Alya when you didn’t answer. She said she thought you were here.” 

Marinette bit her lip, her mind coming up frustratingly blank. Why couldn’t she think of anything? She was great at tying together a lucky charm with three random other objects just laying around. Why couldn’t she think up a plausible lie now? It was the same thing, wasn’t it? 

“Marinette,” her papa said gently. “You are never where you say you’ll be.”

“It’s becoming a pattern,” her maman added. 

“And we’re getting really worried,” her papa continued. “We know we have always wanted to respect your privacy. But if you’re not honest or transparent with us when something is clearly wrong, then we need to start asking questions.”

Celebrity Status: Ch 3 - A Most Welcome Guest

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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Chapter 3: A Most Welcome Guest

Ladybug was in his room! 

There wasn’t an akuma or anything. She was standing on the opposite of his foosball table, and they were playing. 

Playing an actual game together. Just hanging out. 

He needed to pinch himself because many times had he dreamed of this? 

Maybe not exactly this. But something like this!

She took a shot, and he didn’t bother to attempt to block it. The goal went in, and the excitement on her face from scoring a point was more than worth it. 

He dropped the ball back in the center of the table and he took a lazy shot. She intercepted it, and shot it back towards her goal. She was pretty good at the game. He never would have guessed. 

“What’s it like being famous?” she asked. 

He risked a glance up. Her lips were pursed unhappily. Had something happened that Chat Noir had missed? 

“I imagine you know,” he hazarded. 

“But what’s it like for you?” 

He shrugged. "There are some nice perks,” he said, gesturing to the room. “And sometimes my word seems to have a lot of weight.” Not that his father let him use it very often. “But the actual experience of being recognized is not something I enjoy. I get constant love confessions from people who don't even know me.” 

She nodded in agreement. He wasn’t surprised. Chat Noir received that kind of attention too. 

“Then people randomly want to take selfies, which I never used to mind, but then there's an assumption that we are friends."

“Oh my god! Exactly! I hate the selfies! And if you say no, they make you feel like a total jerk!” 

Celebrity Status: Ch 2 - Temporary Refuge

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3

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Chapter 2: Temporary Refuge

Ladybug was positively sick of akumas.

The week hadn’t gotten any better on the akuma front since Marinette had been grounded. There was at least one every day, and sometimes more. She knew she was playing with fire leaving her room for every one of them, but what else was she to do? 

And Ladybug hated this akuma in particular. First, its power set was particularly irritating. She seemed to be able to change her appearance at will. Everytime, Ladybug broke line of sight, the akuma would change forms and blend it with the crowd like some kind of chameleon. Second, she also seemed to have some kind of vision ability that allowed her to zone in on her target no matter how close or far away he was. And last, her target was Adrien. 

“Do you think we lost her?”

Ladybug scanned the horizon from their rooftop vantage point, too anxious about the potential threat, to even enjoy the fact that Adrien was currently pressed up against her.

His arms were literally wrapped around her shoulders completely at ease, like he casually hung out with Ladybug hanging precariously from the sides of buildings every day. Her free hand gripped his waist like they were about to dance, rather than launch skyward to flee a super powered villain that had it out for him.

“I doubt it,” she answered. 

Where was Chat Noir?

“I’m sure he’d be here if he could.” 

She glanced at Adrien, her cheeks warming. Had she said that aloud?

“Look, I’m just getting in the way,” Adrien said. “She hasn’t reappeared in several minutes. You should leave me here and do your thing.” 

She grinned. “My thing?” 

His hands drew a nonsensical pattern in the air before them. “Yeah, your thing,” he repeated. “You do it very well.” Pink suddenly dusted his cheeks.

Okay, she was enjoying this. 

Celebrity Status - Ch 1: The Struggle is Real

Chapters: 1 | 2

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Chapter 1: The Struggle is Real

Rays of golden sunlight lit up the sky in a brilliant cerulean blue uninterrupted by clouds or akumas. Marinette was humming and twirling happily in circles on her short walk to school.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Tikki commented from her shoulder.

“I know!” Marinette gushed, her arms shooting out in excitement. “What’s not to love, Tikki? The weather is gorgeous! I got a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, I took a shower this morning, I’ve already eaten breakfast! I even managed to get all my homework done! And, as if all that was not enough, I’m going to make it to school on time!”

The kwami giggled. “I think you need higher standards.”

Marinette didn’t really hear her, as she gazed up at the clear and open sky with a beaming smile. Maybe today was the day she would manage to tell Adrien how she felt.

Before she could get too lost in her daydreams, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Marinette pulled it out and glanced at the notification. Her grin vanished as fast as her father’s freshly baked croissants during a holiday sale.

She groaned, tugging at her pigtails in frustration.

Couldn’t the stars couldn't align for one single day? Was that too much to ask?!