Note : 

Hi !

I wanted to say the biggest thank you to XanLee, who translated this story from my original fic in french. Thank you so much !! Merci !! I don't have words to say how happy I am right now, you did an amazing work :D
THANK YOU !!!

You can find XanLee here : 

AO3 (XanLee) : http://archiveofourown.org/users/XanLee/pseuds/XanLee

Tumblr (sadrien-depreste) : https://sadrien-depreste.tumblr.com/

If you liked this fic, please do not forget to thank XanLee for the translation ^^

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Original story : Mindell, "Visites nocturnes"
Available in french here :  https://www.wattpad.com/467593756-visites-nocturnes-miraculous-fanfiction-chapitre-1

(Et pour ceux qui ne parleraient pas / pas bien anglais : cette histoire est la traduction en anglais de ma fic "Visites nocturnes", qui se trouve aussi sur mon compte Wattpad. La traduction a été faite par XanLee que je remercie énormément pour son travail ! )

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"Marinette, I don't think this is a good idea," Tikki repeated for the fourteenth time that night. "A very, very bad idea."

"But you don't understand!" the young girl exclaimed, dramatically throwing her arms toward the sky. "Adrien is grounded for two weeks. Two. Weeks. I am never going to survive without seeing him for that long!"

She was sure of it. It had already been three long, painful days that her Adrien was being kept at home by his father, and she already felt a great emptiness in her life. She had to see him.

Ignoring Tikki's disapproving look, Marinette dropped heavily into her chair. She cursed Gabriel Agreste and his legendary harshness with all her heart, as it made him punish his son after too many tardies and absences from school. The girl folded her arms on her desk and buried her head in them, stifling back a grumble.

She never noticed that Adrien had missed so many classes. Sure, her duties as a superheroine forced her to miss school more than she would have liked, but still. She should have known.

On the other hand, it was perfectly possible that Adrien's absences hadn't been as bad as the punishment would suggest. Knowing how inflexible Gabriel Agreste was, it was likely that a single small tardy had motivated this completely irrational decision to punish his son for two long weeks.

Two weeks, during which Adrien would be under house arrest.

Two weeks, during with he would have private lessons again instead of going to class.

Two weeks, during which Marinette would be deprived of the extraordinary presence of the love of her life.

And for Marinette, one thing was certain: one could not reasonably hold a girl in love away from the object of her affection for so long. Jumping out of her chair, the heroine turned and stepped toward her kwami, a resolute gleam in her eyes.

Her mind was made up.

"Tikki," she called before her friend had time to protest. "Transform me!"

Barely a few minutes later, Ladybug softly landed on the roof of the Agreste household. She quickly found a small window, partly obscured by a massive chimney.

The girl de-transformed and approached the opening, under Tikki's disapproving look.

"Marinette, we need to go back right now," the latter whispered in an urgent tone. "You can't use your powers to sneak into other people's homes!"

"I know, I know..." Marinette murmured absentmindedly, her gaze fixed on the handle of the window. "Just five minutes. Just time to see Adrien, then we'll go."

"Marinette, you're putting your secret in danger," Tikki retorted. "Aren't you aware of that?"

"Yes, but... Please, Tikki," Marinette pleaded, pressing her hands together in a begging gesture. "Just this one time."

Tikki glanced at her for a moment, then shook her head in resignation.

"I suppose that even if I say no, you'll still go?" she sighed.

The guilty expression on Marinette's face immediately made any attempt at an answer to that question unnecessary.

"Ok, ok..." Tikki said with a deep weariness. "But just make sure your secret stays safe."

"I promise!" Marinette squeaked with enthusiasm.

Her cheeks red with excitement, the girl turned on her heels and leaned toward the window, her face close enough to the glass to leave a light trace of fog. Then, with a sudden realization, she blushed again and looked at her kwami awkwardly.

"And to... to open the window," Marinette asked in an apologetic voice. "Can you help me?"

Once the latch was unlocked by Tikki, it only took Marinette a few seconds to slip through the opening and set foot in an old office.

"Ok, hide," she whispered to her kwami, opening her purse. "I spotted where Adrien's room is, I shouldn't be too long."

"I hope for your sake that you'll be very careful..." Tikki sighed one last time, before disappearing into her little hideout.

"I promise," Marinette repeated with a puff.

Now alone, the girl slowly opened the door to the office, shooting a quick glance to the right, and then to the left.

Nobody.

The entire manor was covered in shadow, while a reassuring silence hovered in the air. With a relieved sigh, Marinette cautiously advanced into the hallway. Thanks to her careful observations, she had already figured out the location of Adrien's room from the outside, mentally mapping the place, deducing the route to follow.

Finding her classmate would be easy.

Although she moved at a wary pace, the girl only took a few moments to reach her destination. She paused at the door, took a deep breath, and gently pushed open the door that still separated her from her true love.

Just a few centimeters.

Just to make sure she was in the right place.

Heart beating wildly, Marinette cast a quick, discreet glance inside the room. She was sure that she wasn't mistaken, but it was better to be careful. The mere thought of stumbling in on Gabriel Agreste in the middle of working or getting ready to sleep was enough to justify the extra caution.

Marinette was quite keen on her future professional career, her peace, and her life.

Better to be sure.

As she scanned the interior of the room with care, Marinette felt an enormous wave of relief wash over her. In front of her stood brightly colored walls, a basketball hoop, a gigantic television set, and some books left in a corner. And most importantly, a boy with a terribly familiar silhouette standing in the middle of the room. She had succeeded.

She had finally found Adrien.

Finally.

Without losing a second more, Marinette snuck into the room and delicately closed the door behind her. Alerted by the movement in his peripheral vision, Adrien turned toward her.

And almost fell backward from the surprise.

Adrien reflexively caught himself on the couch, mouth gaping like a fish out of water - but the most attractive fish, mind you. The expression of stupor that had taken its place on his features was certainly something, such that Marinette might have burst out laughing if she had not been so nervous. Eyes round as saucers, Adrien stared at her with such intensity that she felt herself blush all the way up to her hairline.

"G-G-Good evening?" she started timidly.

"Marinette?" exclaimed Adrien, before throwing his hands over his mouth.

The boy brought his alarmed gaze to the entrance of his room, crossing it briskly to poke his head out in the hallway. Then, obviously pleased with his observations, he closed the door softly and turned back to his classmate.

"But how did you get in here?" he whispered as he approached her. "My father isn't letting anyone visit me."

His eyebrows were raised high in an expression of absolute puzzlement, accentuating the look of confusion on his face.

"Well... I..." Marinette sputtered, caught off guard.

The young girl barely managed to hold back a groan of despair. She had thought of everything. She figured the perfect time slot to elude the vigilance of his father. The way she would climb on the roof. How to break into Adrien's house. How she would locate his room.

Everything, except a plausible excuse to explain her presence.

Tikki had been right.

This idea was a disaster.

Marinette's nervousness increased by the second and, unfortunately for her, the girl didn't function well under pressure. At least, not like this. She knew perfectly well how to manage the pressure-of-fighting-a-super-villain. The pressure-of-responding-to-dozens-of-journalists. The pressure-of-carrying-the-security-of-Paris-on-her-shoulders.

But the pressure-of-talking-to-Adrien?

That was a whole different story.

Under the effect of the panic, Marinette's mind had suddenly become empty. Completely, undeniably, desperately empty. Not the slightest spark of an idea, not the smallest ounce of inspiration. Just nothingness, and a situation far too ridiculous to be able to get out of without the slightest explanation.

Marinette frantically swept her eyes over the room, searching for an excuse. Anything that could justify her improbable appearance.

Then, when her frazzled gaze caught on the multicolored footholds that decorated one of the walls of the room, her subconscious mind impulsively clung to this source of inspiration.

And before she even had the time to think about it, she had already opened her mouth.

"CLIMBING!" she cried out, before dropping her voice sharply at Adrien's distraught expression. "I... I like climbing," she continued, grimacing inwardly, seeing herself now forced to sink deeper into her lie. "I do a lot of climbing. So when I passed by the wall outside, I... climbed. Your house. And I came in through the window. Haha..."

Cheeks on fire, Marinette let her sentence die without daring to add another word. It was ridiculous. She was ridiculous. She wanted to leave. To find a shovel, dig a hole somewhere, and bury herself in it.

Anything else, rather than continuing to be embarrassed in front of the love of her life.

Facing her, Adrien crossed his arms over his chest and sent her a look of skepticism.

"You climbed the side of the house?" he questioned in disbelief. "But there's almost no footholds!"

"Haha, what do you want, I'm very strong?" Marinette expressed hesitantly. "Er, I mean, yes, I'm very strong!" she continued in a firmer tone that she hoped was convincing. "A crack, a stone sticking out a bit, and hup, that's it! It's quite easy when you've practiced," she concluded with a theatrical wave of her fingers in front of her.

In Adrien's eyes, astonishment gradually gave way to sincere admiration.

"Wow... That's amazing!" he exclaimed with a big smile that gave Marinette the impression that her knees were liquefying beneath her. "You're really impressive! I already knew that you were super talented in sewing and drawing, but in sports too?"

"Haha, yeah, I have some hidden talents..." she agreed with a laugh that sounded unpleasantly fake in her ears.

Under other circumstances, Marinette would have certainly been delighted to receive such compliments from Adrien, but knowing that they were partially based on her lies left a bad taste in her mouth.

"I don't know if you're aware," the young man went on enthusiastically, "but I like it a lot too. I even have a climbing wall, as you can see," he continued, gesturing to the wall with a broad wave of the hand. "Do you want to give me a demonstration?" he asked, glancing at her hopefully.

Marinette's eyes immediately widened in horror.

She was already incapable of climbing even a dozen steps without stumbling, so a wall...

No.

Definitely no.

It was out of the question, and her classmate could not find out.

"Uhhh, i-it's not that I don't want to," she stuttered, raising her hands in front of her, palms facing Adrien defensively. "But I-I... I don't have... I don't... I have to save my strength. To leave. Outside. Later. I have to climb the wall down. To, uh, you know. Leave."

"Ah, yes, right..." agreed Adrien, nodding his head thoughtfully. "In any case, it was nice of you to come," he continued, smiling at her with clear sincerity. "It really is a pleasure."

Marinette felt herself blush again. Her cheeks on fire, she had to call upon all of her willpower to keep her from shouting with joy. Adrien was happy to see her!

"It's crazy how long the days can be when you're only allowed to leave your room to see your tutors," the boy added with a deep sigh.

"I can't even imagine how hard it must be," his classmate replied sympathetically.

And when Adrien answered with the brightest of smiles, Marinette was overcome with such an outburst of euphoria that she felt her head spin. Her heart, singing with glee, beat so violently that she began to fear that Adrien would hear it.

Instinctively putting a hand on her chest as to try to stifle the compromising noise, Marinette let out a content sigh.

Adrien was handsome, wonderful, and endlessly kind, and he had just given her the most extraordinary smile after saying he was happy to see her.

She was in heaven, that was for sure.

"Anyway, I don't think you've ever been in my room, right?" Adrien started, raising a questioning eyebrow, and interrupting his classmate's train of enamored thoughts.

"No..." replied Marinette dreamily. "You're amazing. IT'S amazing!" she corrected herself, wincing. "Your room. IT is amazing. And huge. I've never seen a bedroom with two floors," she finished, raising her eyes to look at the height of the room.

"Yeah, my father has a slight tendency to exaggerate things," agreed Adrien, unconsciously bringing a hand to the back of his head.

A slight grimace settled on the boy's face and Marinette quickly felt the atmosphere go sour. Obviously, they had run into a sensitive subject for Adrien.

Wanting to change the subject, Marinette took her courage into her own two hands and took a step toward him.

"Can you show me around?" she proposed with an encouraging smile.

"Oh, yes, of course," answered Adrien gratefully. "Well, you have the climbing wall, which you can use whenever you want to give me a demonstration," he began with a wink that dusted Marinette's cheeks with pink. "Up there, there's my library," he continued, gesturing to the balcony with his hand. "There, you have the television corner, my video games, over there is my desk..."

While Marinette listened to Adrien blissfully, her attention was suddenly caught by the young man's computer. And more precisely, by the familiar silhouette that stood out on the wallpaper.

The silhouette of Ladybug.

Marinette was paralyzed with astonishment for a moment, staring without really seeing the image of her heroic alter-ego. She couldn't think anymore. A violent discharge of emotions were overloading her brain, giving her the sensation that a fireworks show was raging in her skull, that all of her neurons were exploding into a myriad of sparkling colors. There was no doubt that Adrien had chosen an image he was so attached to as his wallpaper so that he could admire it every day.

And that image was none other than a photo of Ladybug.

A photo of her.

"Y-you... you're a fan?" she stammered in a voice that was a little bit too sharp.

"What?" Adrien questioned, surprised, before he notice where Marinette was looking.

For the first time since she knew him, the girl was amazed to see her classmate blush. Adrien coughed awkwardly, while his cheeks and ears turned delicately pink.

"Oh. It's... I... Yes, actually," he shyly admitted. "I-I'm... I'm a fan. A big fan."

Marinette felt herself blush despite her best efforts not to.

Sure, Adrien was talking about her alter-ego. But as Tikki had repeated to her many times, she was Ladybug, with or without the mask. And to know that her true love was so infatuated with the heroine of Paris made a sweet sensation of warmth and well-being radiate through her, which spread from her navel to every inch of her body.

Encouraged by this revelation, Marinette drew on her courage to continue the conversation without letting her happiness, embarrassment, nervousness, or any other sort of emotion get in the way.

"I-It's... it's not that surprising," she returned with a little nod of the head. "Plenty of people admire her."

"I know, right?" Adrien replied, his eyes shining.

Seeing the expression of blind adoration that covered the face of the young man, Marinette couldn't help but smile.

"I feel like I'm listening to Alya," she remarked with a giggle. "She spends all her time praising Ladybug."

"With good reason," Adrien said with a dreamy sigh. "She's magnificent..."

Surprised by the sharp look that Marinette gave him, the boy feverishly ran a hand through his hair to try to find some semblance of composure.

"I mean, she's the heroine of Paris," he replied nervously. "It's normal to think she's extraordinary. Between the supervillains and everybody else in trouble, it's impossible to count the number of people she's helped!"

Marinette felt like she was dreaming. Naturally, she would have preferred that Adrien's admiration be directed towards her and not towards her alter-ego. But the enthusiasm of the young man was palpable, and to hear him covering her with compliments made her sparkle with joy anyway.

The still-lucid part of Marinette's brain was yelling at her to change the subject immediately.

This sensation of bittersweet euphoria that was sweeping through her was dangerous. It made her lower her guard. Gave her an unexpected surge of confidence. It urged her to seek more information, namely of how highly Adrien thought of her.

She had to shut up and leave.

But...

"What do you like about her?" Marinette heard herself asking unwittingly.

"Oh. She's... Well, she's courageous," Adrien started hesitantly. "And she's brilliant, so brilliant," he continued with more conviction, obviously unable to contain his admiration for the heroine. "Have you ever noticed how much imagination she has? I don't know how she comes up with all her plans for fighting supervillains, but I'm amazed every time! She's the kind of girl that can stop a burglary with a clothespin, a bottle of shampoo, and a deep fryer," he added with a little chuckle.

Marinette couldn't keep the grin off her face, torn between embarrassment and amusement.

Visibly thrilled to have an attentive audience, Adrien went on describing Ladybug's amazing feats for a few long minutes. Her classmate's knowledge was far above that of Alya's, despite her being unanimously recognized as the expert on everything concerning the heroes of Paris.

More than once, Marinette found herself furrowing her brows at the mention of an anecdote.

Something was wrong.

Adrien's stories were too vivid. Too precise. Too rich in details that even Alya herself hardly knew. To anybody else, the boy would have just seemed like a fan that was perhaps a bit too passionate. But for Marinette, for Ladybug, it was something else.

It was strange that Adrien knew so much about her and her battles.

"...above all, she's a source of inspiration for me," the young man continued. "Not because she's strong, but because she continues on despite all the doubts she might have. The first time she had to fight against a supervillain, she was convinced that she would never be up to it," murmured Adrien with a smile as if he was certain of the opposite being true. "She had even hesitated to accept her role as a heroine. But even so, she fought with all her strength and managed to rally everyone to her side. Ladybug is an ordinary girl, who finds the courage to do extraordinary things," he concluded with an awe-struck sigh.

Marinette suddenly looked as if she had seen a ghost. Nobody knew that she had been close to refusing to be Ladybug. Nobody knew that she had almost abandoned her miraculous.

Almost nobody.

"How do you know these things about her?" Marinette asked flatly.

The young man jolted. He blinked, once, twice, in a daze like somebody who had just been woken from a dream. Then, suddenly aware of what he had recounted, he turned so pale that, for a moment, Marinette thought he was going to collapse right in front of her.

"Oh... It's... You know how it is," he sputtered in a panic, his gaze suddenly avoided hers. "A bit of chatting here and there, you learn a few things."

"Chatting... With Ladybug?" Marinette pressed, frowning.

"Yeah," the boy answered automatically. "NO!" he quickly backtracked. "Well, a little. I've crossed paths with her a few times, and talked with her a bit... T-That's... That's how I know these things about her. Anyway, I probably shouldn't be talking about these things..." he finished with a nervous laugh.

He reached his hands out to Marinette to rest them on her shoulders, dipping his spring green gaze into her ocean blue eyes.

"Please, don't tell anybody," he pleaded. "That... That I've had the chance to talk with Ladybug. Not even Alya. I-I... Y-You know how she is, she'll want to know exactly how I ran into her and it's not something that I want to talk about and I..."

But Marinette wasn't listening to him anymore. Her mind was boiling, her skull ready to explode. At that precise moment, four thoughts circled around in her brain.

One. Adrien knew way too many stories about Ladybug.

Two. He claimed to have met the heroine of Paris on multiple occasions.

Three. Marinette was in a particularly good position to know that wasn't the case.

Four. Adrien was anything but a liar.

No.

No, not four thoughts, Marinette realized in a moment of strange clarity.

Five.

Five. Adrien was Chat Noir.