Note: I watched the French show with English subtitles, so that's why it's "Buginette" and not "Bugaboo."

Marinette was still blushing—partly out of frustration—when Alya caught up with her.

"What was that about?" Alya asked. "What did Adrien want?"

Marinette's blush darkened. "He wants to have matching costumes for the Halloween dance," she replied. "Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Alya practically squealed. "That's so cute! You should do it!"

Marinette bit her lip. She knew that it would risk their identities if they did, but Adrien had run off before she could protest. This is going to be a catastrophe, she thought. Then she mentally groaned. His cat puns were rubbing off on her.

Alya hadn't noticed the look of worry on her friend's face—she was too busy pulling up pictures from the LadyBlog for Marinette to use as a reference for her costume.

When Marinette got home, she called Adrien. It still put knots in her stomach to press the call button, but less so now that they were truly on speaking terms.

"Hey!" Adrien answered cheerfully.

"H-hey," Marinette stuttered. "Can we talk about the costumes?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Are you sure you want to dress up as… well, ourselves? It could blow our cover."

Adrien laughed. "Not the way I'm thinking." He explained his plan, and it was like a weight was lifted off Marinette's shoulders.

She laughed nervously as she listened.

"…and I was hoping you could draw up a couple of designs, and we could have the costumes ready well before the dance."

"We?"

She could almost hear his grin. "Well, my father's a designer, so I could just ask our personal seamsters to make the costumes."

Marinette didn't know what to say.

"…Milady? Are you still there?"

"Y-yeah," she said, blushing. "That sounds great." She paused. "Did you… did you really want me to design the costumes?"

"Of course! Your designs are awesome! Besides, my father wouldn't 'waste his time' on the costumes, and I can't draw worth half a cent."

Her blush deepened when he complimented her, and she stifled a laugh when he said he couldn't draw. "Come on," she said, "with your dad's genes, your drawings can't be that bad."

A pause.

"I'd show you how bad I am, but I don't want to scar you for life." His words could have been taken as a joke, but his tone was serious.

She didn't know if she should laugh, but, out of nervousness, she kind of did anyway. "Okay, w-well I can have the designs ready in a couple of days, and I'll bring them to class on Thursday. Is that enough time? For the seamsters, I mean."

"That should be enough time," Adrien replied. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

"Wait!" Marinette didn't mean for it to come out that loud. Her blush returned. "Could you, um… not call me that when we're not… 'on duty'?"

He didn't quite understand. "Call you what?"

She coughed nervously. "Um, 'Milady.'"

"Do you prefer 'Buginette'?" She could tell he was grinning. "I didn't realize until recently that it's like a cross between 'Marinette' and—"

"No," she said quickly, cutting him off. She mentally scolded herself before continuing. "Sorry, that was rude. I mean, you can call me whatever you want when we're… you know, but… I prefer my actual name otherwise." She didn't want to tell him that ever since she found out he was Chat Noir, the nickname 'Milady' somehow both thrilled and embarrassed her.

He readily agreed. "Alright, Marinette. I can't wait to see how the costumes turn out!"

"Me neither," she replied. "I'll… see you later."

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye."

When she hung up, a sudden noise gave her a start. Hand over her heart, she looked over at her desk. "Tikki! I could have died!"

The kwami had dropped a pencil on the desk next to Marinette's sketchbook. "Sorry, it slipped," she said in her tiny voice. "I thought you might want to get started on the designs."

Marinette sighed as her heart returned to its normal pace. "It wouldn't hurt to get a basic idea before I do my homework…"

The day of the dance, Adrien personally delivered Marinette's costume before offering her a ride to the dance.

"Are you for real?" Alya couldn't hide her excitement when she saw her friends' costumes.

Marinette was wearing a wide-necked, black dress; lace-edged gloves; and a black headband with cat ears. The ruffled skirt of the dress had a rather extreme high-low effect—shortest in the front, just above her knees, and dropping just to the floor in the back—to simulate a tail. Her shoes were a simple pair of black flats, and she wore a lace choker with a ladybug-shaped bell charm.

Adrien wore a rich red suit with a black silk shirt, including a red waistcoat with black polka-dots. The almost unnoticeable finishing touch was a pair of silver, cat-shaped cufflinks.

"Marinette designed the costumes," Adrien said proudly.

Marinette's face reddened. "I didn't really mean for them to be quite this formal at first," she said, "but I really like how they turned out."

"Me too," Alya said with a wink. She was dressed as her own made-up superheroine—a patriotic red, white, and blue dress, with low-heeled white boots and a pair of aviator goggles perched on top of her head. When Marinette asked what the goggles were for, Alya laughed and said, "They're for when I'm flying, so I don't get anything in my eyes."

The moment Adrien went to talk to Nino, who was DJing dressed as the Grim Reaper, Alya pulled Marinette aside. "So?" she said expectantly. "Are you two dating now, or what?"

"No!" Marinette said, sounding more defensive than she meant to. "It's just… I mean, he didn't even ask me to be his date to the dance or anything. He just… wanted to match." She shrugged.

Alya smirked. "Sounds like he wanted to ask you to be his date," she said.

Marinette blushed. "Right, and he's actually Ladybug."

Alya laughed. "Don't be so closed to the idea that maybe he likes you too. It's just a dance, anyway. Loosen up. Have fun!"

Adrien had barely made it back across the room before he was hug-attacked by Chloe in a red-and-black polka-dot dress.

"Adrieeen!" she crooned. "What a coincidence—we match!"

He stiffly pulled back. "Heh, cool," he replied half-heartedly. I should have known she'd have a Ladybug costume too, he thought. He spotted Marinette, who'd been stopped by Rose and Juleka ("…You designed your own costume?" "That's so awesome…"). Adrien stepped toward her and put an arm around her waist, interrupting her conversation and causing her to stiffen up in reflex. "Marinette designed our costumes," he said, half of his mouth turning up in a smile.

It was then that Chloe realized that he and Marinette matched. For real. She made up some excuse and, flashing a fake smile, left them there, dragging a bemused bumblebee-Sabrina behind her.

"You alright, Bugi—Marinette?" he half-whispered.

Marinette tried to relax, even though his arm was still around her waist. "I-I'm fine," she said.

Adrien was unconvinced, but he didn't push the matter. He was about to let her go when the music changed. "Wanna dance?" he asked, looking down at her.

She hesitated, then nodded.

He loosened his hold on her waist, turning toward her and placing his other hand on her waist as well, and she gently—hesitantly—put her hands on his shoulders.

She didn't look at him when she spoke. "These costumes were a really cool idea," she said, feeling her face grow warm.

"Thanks," he replied, also avoiding her gaze.

After another moment, Marinette said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" He tilted his head and looked directly at her just as she looked up at him.

She instantly lost her nerve. "Uh, never mind…"

"No," Adrien said, leaning closer and lowering his voice, "ask me. Is it about… you-know-what?"

She paused, then nodded. "I was just wondering…" she whispered.

Unable to hear her over the music and low chatter, he leaned even closer, turning his ear to her.

"…Why are you so… different?"

At first, he didn't understand.

She clarified. "I mean… there's Adrien, and then there's… you-know-who. Why are you so different?"

He pulled back enough for her to see his grin before he leaned close to answer her. "Doesn't the mask make you feel more, I don't know… free? Free to be whoever or whatever you want?"

She'd never really thought of it that way. In a sense, she definitely felt braver as Ladybug.

When Adrien pulled back, she smiled a little. "I guess so." Her brain said "stop," but her mouth kept going. "Does that mean you're really just a flirtatious punster?"

They both blushed.

"Ah, flirtatious isn't quite the word I'd use," he said, reaching up to rub the back of his neck nervously. "It's more like… daring."

"Oh, right," Marinette said, laughing a little. "'Cause flirting takes guts."

Only if you're actually interested in the other person, Adrien thought sourly. But all he could do was smile and say, "Right."

The song ended soon after, and Marinette pulled away from him quickly, her face already red again.

When Adrien took her home, he walked Marinette to the door.

"Thanks for the ride," she said, red-faced and reaching for the door. "Goodnight."

"Wait." Adrian put his hand on her arm. "I need to clear something up."

Marinette looked up at him, brow furrowed. "What is it?"

"I…" he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wasn't 'just flirting.' Ladybug was—you were—just so…" He couldn't find the words and was starting to blush. "And I didn't want to—I mean, I was afraid that… Hm…" His blush spread to his ears, and instead of continuing to bumble over his words, he quickly kissed her cheek and turned to walk back to the waiting car. "Goodnight, Marinette," he said over his shoulder.

Marinette was frozen to the spot, staring out into the street for several minutes after the car had left before Tikki managed to snap her out of it. Well, sort of. She was still in a daze as she made her way up to her room.

Many thoughts bounced around in her head, but one stood out: she had to write in her journal before she went to sleep. That way she'd know for sure if it had been a dream or not.

NOTE: I would VERY MUCH love to see peoples' takes on the outfits I imagined up. If you draw them, please link me on my tumblr (scrawlingwithstyle) so I can see it! I draw better than Adrien, but only by a smidge, so I couldn't do it myself.

A few extras:

1) Poor Sabrina wanted to be a butterfly, but Chloe didn't want to be out-shined by anyone besides Adrien.

2) Basically, Alya wanted to be the French version of Captain America, but with flight powers.

3) I wanted a 'Chloe accidentally-on-purpose spills something on Marinette' scene, but I couldn't figure out how to fit that in AND have it end the way I wanted it to.

4) What Adrien was trying to say when he was bumbling: The word he was looking for was something like "supercalifragilisticexpialadocious," or "supermegafoxyawesomehot," or just "bad-a**." It was hard to decide between the three. He also didn't want to sound too serious at first and know Ladybug's rejection was final. That's why he was all silly and lighthearted while showing his true feelings in hopes of eventually getting a positive response.

Love you all! Thanks for reading!