I've been sucked into the Miraculous Ladybug fandom. No one can stop me now.

When a new school year started, Marinette noticed almost immediately that Adrien had gotten taller. Although she was trying hard not to notice too much, it was obvious that he had filled out a little too-his shoulders seemed broader especially, and from what she could see of his forearms, he was probably working out. Alya asked her several times during the first week of school if she was okay, and Marinette had to come up with new excuses each time 'it's just a little hot in here' 'I'm just disappointed to be back in this classroom'-but Alya, perceptive as ever, clearly wasn't fooled.

It was well into October before Marinette realized that actually, Chat Noir was taller, too.

Boys and their growth spurts, she thought, annoyed. She used to come up to at least his nose, but today when he stood next to her after a battle, she barely reached his shoulder.

Unfortunately, he seemed to notice, too. He patted her head. "Good work today, little lady," he said jokingly, and she swatted his hand away, and put some distance between them with a side step.

"Yeah, well, it was an easy one," she said.

"I think we're getting better," he said, grinning and crossing his arms. When in the world had he gotten so buff? And somehow, he was just as slim-she looked back up at his face-he was watching her with raised eyebrows. Oh goodness, even his jawline had started to square off-she turned away.

"Yeah, I think you're right," she said, and accidentally let out a nervous laugh. She could feel Chat's eyes on her.

"What is it?" he said.

"Oh, nothing, I just, um, need to transform…"

"But you only just barely used…"

"Gotta go, bye!" She swung away, a mortified blush creeping across her face under her mask. She had not just checked out the infamously obnoxious Chat Noir. Nope, nope, nope.

Chat watched her disappear over the edge of a rooftop, and then smirked, looking down at himself.

"So," he said, "she finally noticed."

Now that she had noticed the height difference, Chat Noir decided that the only reasonable course of action would be to tease her about it as often as possible. His favorite method so far was to rest his chin on her head, which she complained dug into her skull. The second time he did it anyway, and then kissed the top of her head before leaping away, laughing and landing on a nearby fence.

Ladybug clutched the top of her head, glaring. Her face had gone a little red, although that could be with annoyance.

"Sorry, sorry," Chat said, laughing. He shifted so one leg swung free over the edge of the fence. "I just couldn't resist, my lady." He couldn't hide an unapologetic smirk as he placed a hand over his heart.

Her frown deepened, and she crossed her arms. "Yeah, laugh it up." She glanced away. "I'm probably not going to get any taller."

"Oh?" he flipped off the fence and landed next to her. "You could. How old are you?"

She squinted at him. "None of your business! But I've gotten as tall as my mom, so that's just about that."

Chat Noir mentally scrolled through his list of potential short jokes, but he had already used most of the best ones. He shrugged.

"Well, then, I guess we'll just have to get used to this," he smiled down at her again. "Darn."

"The other option is, I find a shrink ray," Ladybug said flatly. She turned away, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm sixteen and a half," Chat said suddenly, and Ladybug stiffened and looked back at him. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, a little over a half, I guess."

She bit her lip, not sure what to say. Revealing her age wasn't actually revealing her identity, except that it felt a little vulnerable. Knowing Chat's age was already making her feel awkward-she had guessed he was a teenager, but to keep the distance between them, she had been pretending he was younger than her.

"I'm… about 16, as well," she said, and then glanced up at his face. His smile had softened, and the way he was looking at her… well, it wasn't exactly a friends only look. It made her a little uncomfortable, but more than that, it made her heart rate speed up and the insides of her stomach flip-flop awkwardly. A memory whispered through her mind, of a day in the spring when she had had to kiss him to break a spell… she sighed and put her hand against her forehead. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you that," she said. He only laughed and patted her head affectionately.