Shout out to user Kestra EchoWolf, whose review on 'Say What?' gave me the title for this fic and spurred on an idea that was months in the making. Also, shout out to Livinglittlelie, for helping me with this fic and telling me to go and write when I was procrastinating. You should all go and read her fics, because she is amazing.

This is the third fic in my 'What?' series, but it can be read as a standalone. I only make very small references to the other two stories.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Miraculous Ladybug, you guys. I'm just a piece of Miraculous trash.

Do What?

"You want to do what?" Ladybug asked.

Chat squirmed nervously, "The thing."

"What thing?"

"You know, the thing."

"No, I don't know the thing. You're gonna have to be a little more specific. What are you talking about?"

Chat forced a laugh and a smile. "Oh, you know. I've been thinking of learning another language."

His Lady looked impressed. "Awesome! What language are you thinking of?"

"Oh, uh, Japanese."

Ladybug snorted, "Only because you're a giant anime nerd."

Even as he said, "You caught me," with a sheepish expression, Chat was mentally sighing in relief. His Lady had bought his lie, thank goodness. That gave him another chance to get his act together.

After all, no decent proposal started with nervously blurting out, "I want to do the thing!"

When Adrien decided he wanted to propose to Marinette, he really didn't think that asking the question was going to be too hard.

He was wrong.

He'd done everything traditionally, of course. He'd gone to Sabine and Tom to get their permission (they'd been delighted), he'd informed his Father of his intentions (who had become oddly fond of Marinette in all the years she and Adrien had been dating) and then brainstormed the most romantic way possible to pop the question.

His first train wreck of an attempt had been on top of the Eiffel Tower, arguably one of the most romantic places in the city. He and Marinette often stopped there during patrols. They'd sit, looking out at the city they protected and would talk about anything and everything. It was the perfect time and place to propose. Then, of course, his nerves had kicked in and he'd gone with, "I want to do the thing."

Attempt one: Failed.

Attempt two was at a big, fancy restaurant.

It was hard to find time to go out to dinner with one another. Between Marinette's apprenticeship with his Father, and Adrien's physics degree, plus modelling on the side, they were both pretty busy. When you add saving Paris on top of that, the two secret superheroes were run ragged.

But he and Marinette had managed to find the time to go out together, and this time, Adrien was determined to pop the question.

He was also hoping he didn't puke all over his Lady due to nerves.

Plagg hovered beside Adrien as he got ready for his date with his hopefully wife-to-be.

They were in the bedroom Adrien and Marinette shared. It was nowhere near as ostentatious as Adrien's childhood room used to be. His and Marinette's room was spacious, but not ridiculously so. It simply had their bed, a chest of drawers, and a built in wardrobe, complete with mirrors on the wardrobe's sliding doors.

It was in front of one of those mirrors that Adrien stood, impeccably dressed in one of the best black, Agreste brand suits and currently failing at trying to be calm.

"You know she won't say no, right?" The kwami asked while Adrien nervously fumbled with his tie.

(That in itself was stupid. He was a model. He was an Agreste. He should not have issues tying a tie. Damn nerves).

"I know," Adrien said. "I know she won't."

"Then why are you nervous?"

"Because she might!"

Plagg scoffed, "She's not going to say no. Why would she do that?"

"Maybe she wants to focus on finishing her apprenticeship, or me and my degree. Maybe she thinks we're not ready. Maybe she just doesn't want to get married-"

"We are talking about Marinette, yes?" Plagg interrupted Adrien's panicked rambling. "The girl who's envisioned the two of you married since she was fifteen? Who went so far as to name your future children?"

"Emma, Louis and Hugo are nice names," Adrien defended.

"My point is," the kwami continued. "Is that she's not going to say no. She's wanted to marry you for years. She's going to say yes."

"I know," Adrien said, shaking his head, as if trying to shake his nervous thoughts away. "I know she will, it's just…" He trailed off, unsure as to how to properly finish that sentence.

"You're worried she will anyway," Plagg said.

"Yeah."

"You're an idiot."

Adrien huffed a laugh at that. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Plagg."

Further conversation was halted by the sound of footsteps. Adrien and Plagg to see Marinette standing in the doorway, with Tikki floating at her shoulder.

Adrien momentarily forget how to breathe.

Marinette was beautiful.

Dressed in a simple pink dress of her own designed, and her hair up in a neat bun, she looked stunning. The outfit was accompanied by her usual purse for Tikki to sit in, and comfortable pink flats. She also wore a small amount of makeup.

"Buginette, you look – you look amazing," he said.

She smiled, her cheeks pink, and walked over to him. "You always say that," she said as she fixed his tie for him.

"I always mean it," he replied.

Her smile increased, "Thank you, Chaton."

"You don't need to thank me for telling the truth, my Lady."

She reached up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Flatterer," she said. "Now come on, we'll be late for our reservation."

The restaurant Adrien chose was, indeed, very fancy. The staff were only happy to cater to anyone in the Agreste family and they were warmly welcomed at the door. The restaurant was crowded and it was filled with the murmur of each tables conversation, but Adrien paid it no mind as he and Marinette followed their waiter to their seats.

They sat at their table and the waiter immediately asked if they would like any drink; Adrien ordered a wine at random from the list he'd been given and the waiter went on his way.

Marinette raised her eyebrows at that but remained silent as she watched the waiter walk away. She then turned to Adrien, seeming impressed but bemused at him going to such lengths for their dinner date.

"That was an expensive bottle of wine," she said. "And this seems like a very expensive restaurant. It seems a bit much for dinner."

Shit, Adrien thought, mentally panicking.

"Well, tonight's special," he said.

Marinette raised her eyebrows higher, "Oh really? Special how?"

Shit shit shit shit shit, Adrien thought, desperately trying to think up an answer.

"Well, we've been so busy lately," he said. "We've barely had any time for each other. Tonight is just about taking time away from everything and having a night to ourselves."

Adrien was pretty proud of that answer. It wasn't even a lie either. They really had been ridiculously busy; it was nice to have an evening together.

Marinette beamed at him, "Thank you, Chaton! It's a lovely idea. I'm sorry I've been so busy."

Adrien shook his head, "It's alright, my Lady. I, of all people, know exactly what it's like to work for my Father."

She laughed, "Well you would, wouldn't you? I'm still not sure how you managed to include saving Paris on top of everything you used to do in college."

He smirked at her, "And you'd know everything about that, wouldn't you, Buginette? I seem to recall Alya telling me something about a chart that had my entire schedule on it."

Marinette crossed her arms and pouted, a blush burning her cheeks. "Alya was supposed to take that secret to the grave."

Adrien's smirk increased, "You really like me, huh, my Lady?"

Marinette rolled her eyes at him, "You say that like we haven't been dating for the last seven years, Minou. Plus, if you want to talk about liking each other, let's talk about your Ladybug merchandise collection."

Now it was Adrien's turn to pout, "Plagg should have kept his mouth shut about that."

"What can I say? Plagg likes me."

"He likes the cheese bread you give him."

"Yeah, I do!" Came Plagg's voice from where he was hiding in Adrien's suit pocket.

"Plagg!" Adrien hissed at him, looking into his pocket to give him a warning look. He was supposed to keep quiet!

His kwami just gave him a look that screamed, 'Get on with it!'

"You can do it, kid!" Plagg said.

"Do what?" Marinette asked, unfortunately hearing the kwami's encouragement.

Adrien sighed, thinking quickly. "Plagg wants me to order a meal made out entirely of cheese."

"Camembert is preferable," Plagg said, going along with Adrien's lie.

(Adrien made a mental note to give the kwami more cheese later for backing him up like that).

Marinette laughed, "Plagg, you eat so much cheese, you're going to turn into it one of these days."

With a final remark about how that wouldn't be a bad thing, Plagg fell silent and went back to hiding in Adrien's pocket, but not before sending his Chosen a pointed look. Clearly the kwami thought Adrien had put off asking Marinette the question for too long.

"I'm sure Tikki is just bursting to weigh in on this conversation," Marinette said with a grin.

There was a small noise of agreement that emanated from Marinette's purse, but Tikki refrained from actually speaking.

The miraculous wielders laughed. Adrien took that moment as a chance to reach over the table and take his Lady's hand in his. Marinette blushed and smiled at the contact, but didn't say a word.

Adrien thought it was an endearing trait of hers. That after all the years they'd been together, he could still make her blush so easily.

"It's been so long since we were given the miraculous," he said.

"Years since I called Tikki a mouseroach," Marinette said, smiling fondly at the memory.

"And I thought Plagg was like a genie in the lamp," Adrien said with a laugh. "Now I know better. He's just a lazy cat with a cheese addiction."

(Adrien had a feeling his kwami would make him pay for that comment later … And the price would be camembert. Lots and lots of camembert).

But this was the moment. Their hands clasped, a fancy, romantic dinner together. They may have only just arrived, but Adrien wasn't sure if he could remain calm throughout the whole dinner. Better to do it sooner rather than later.

He took a second to compose himself. He could do this. It wasn't that hard. He just needed to open his mouth and ask one little question.

"My lady, Marinette," he began and took a deep breath.

"Yes?"

His heart was pounding, and any second he was sure Marinette was going to ask why his hand was so sweaty and shaking. He could do this. He could. She wasn't going to say no.

"My lady, will-"

He was cut off by the din of the restaurant growing louder. Adrien and Marinette turned to see a man a few tables over from them down on one knee and proposing to his girlfriend. The spectacle had drawn the attention of the people around them and they all looked on as the man's partner cried tears of happiness and said yes.

Marinette gasped, looking delighted. "Chaton, look how beautiful that is!" She said, clapping along with the other people in the restaurant as the newly engaged couple kissed.

Adrien was staring at the couple in carefully disguised mortification as he applauded as well.

He couldn't propose now! Not after someone had just done it!

He was happy for the couple, of course, but he was also bitterly disappointed. He and his Lady were the ones who were supposed to be being applauded.

This wasn't a part of his plan!

Everyone in the restaurant went back to their meals. Marinette turned her attention away from the other couples and focused back on her partner. "What were you going to say?"

Adrien fought the urge to sigh.

"Just … will you share an entrée with me?"

Attempt two: Failed.

Attempt three happened over dinner at home. However, it could barely be counted as an attempt.

Adrien had a hilarious idea to say, "Will you 'Mari' me?"

He'd gotten the 'Will you' part out before he realised that his Princess would probably kill him for proposing with a pun. He quickly changed it to, "Will you please pass the salt?"

Crisis: Aborted.

Attempt three: Failed.

"Why is this so difficult?!" He moaned to Nino over the phone.

"It shouldn't be," his best friend replied. "It's just four words, dude: 'Will you marry me?' Boom. Done. Simple."

"But it's not!" Was Adrien's feeble argument.

Nino laughed, "Alright, I can see how someone else proposing at the same time would steal your thunder, but it's okay. Mari doesn't need all that fancy restaurant and romantic atmosphere stuff anyway; you're just being a super romantic nerd."

Before Adrien could respond to that, he heard the sound of a door closing from the other end of the line and Alya's voice spoke up. "Super romantic nerd? Are you talking to the sunshine child?"

As Nino greeted Alya with a 'Hey, Babe', Adrien paused to reflect on how he got labelled the sunshine child, or how Alya knew her boyfriend was talking to him simply from the words 'super romantic nerd'.

There was a beep and Nino's voice grew fainter as he said, "You're on speaker."

"Hey Alya," he said. "Why am I the sunshine child?"

"You don't like it? I have others. How do you like marshmallow?"

"Why marshmal-"

"Cat son?"

Adrien could hear Nino laughing in the background.

"Actual Disney princess, Adrien Agreste."

"Alya, no."

"Cinnamon roll."

"What?"

"Sinnamon bun."

"Sinnamon bun?!" He and Nino chorused.

"Why is he a sinnamon bun?" His best friend asked.

"Have you read the comments on the Ladyblog?" Alya said. "Everyone agrees that Chat Noir is a sinnamon bun."

"…. What … What does that even mean?" Adrien asked.

"Oh, my poor, sweet, oblivious model son," Alya laughed.

'Model' son. Heh. That was a good one. Wait, wait, wait. They were getting off topic.

"Okay, I didn't actually call about nicknames," he said.

"Of course you didn't," Alya said, still seeming amused. "What's up, you ridiculous, super romantic nerd? Having trouble popping the question?"

There was a pause as Adrien processed what she just said, before –

"Nino! You weren't supposed to tell anyone!" He cried into the phone.

"It's just Alya!" Nino defended himself. "Like she's gonna tell anyone."

"Need I remind you that this reporter hasn't told anyone that you and Mari are Ladybug and Chat Noir, despite the fact I have a blog dedicated to you?"

Okay, Adrien had to give her that one.

"Fair point," he said.

"Thank you," she replied, and Adrien could just picture the smug grin on her face.

"Dude's having trouble though," Nino said, steering the conversation back to its original point. "He keeps messing up his proposals."

"It's not like I knew that other guy was going to propose on the same night!" Adrien said defensively.

"Marinette told me about that," Alya said. "She was gushing about how cute it was."

Adrien groaned, "You are not helping."

"Okay, okay, okay," the blogger said. "Mama Alya is gonna tell you exactly what you need to do."

Adrien waited expectantly.

"Just be yourself, you dork!" She finished. "Mari doesn't need ridiculously romantic gestures-"

"That's what I said," Nino interjected.

"She deserves them," Adrien argued.

"That girl deserves the world," Alya agreed. "But you could propose covered in shit and Marinette would still think it was the most amazing proposal ever."

"Eww," Adrien and Nino said in unison.

"Gross, babe," Nino said.

"My point is," Alya continued over their disgust. "Is that she won't care how it happens, she's just going to be happy you're asking."

"But-" Adrien tried to protest.

"I know it's the norm to think of some big romantic gesture for a proposal," Alya said. "But you guys are Ladybug and Chat Noir, when have you ever been normal?"

"Well-"

"If you say 'Before we got our miraculouses', I will jump down this phone line and strangle you," Alya warned.

Adrien wisely shut up.

"You're overthinking this," she went on. "My point is, you're Ladybug and Chat Noir. You're a team. You do things together. You're gonna be engaged, you're gonna get married. How that happened doesn't matter. What matters is you're together."

There was a silence as he took in what she said. "Thanks, Alya," he said at last.

"No worries, you human disaster," she said. "We got your back."

"You can do this, bro," Nino encouraged. "You got this."

Yeah, Adrien thought. I can do this. It's not that hard.

He could do it. He would do it. He wasn't going to mess up again.

Attempt four: Failed.

…. It was best not to talk about attempt four.

Attempt five included all their old classmates.

Well, not counting Chloé, Sabrina and Lila.

His plan was to get them all at the park across from the school, while Marinette was at her parent's bakery. Each of them had a sign that spelt out one word. When they all stood together, it would say, 'Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?' Then he'd go get Marinette from the bakery, show her the signs and then hopefully he'd have one happy fiancée.

His friends were all crowded around him as he handed out their signs. Each of them seemed excited about what was about to happen.

"Well, this is a step up from being covered in shit, eh, Agreste?" Alya said, grinning, as Adrien handed her the 'Would' sign.

He groaned, "Please don't remind me of that."

"Or me," Nino added, taking the 'you' sign from him.

"I'm sorry, covered in what?" Max asked, aghast.

"Alya thought that even if I was covered in – well – that – Marinette would still love the proposal," Adrien explained, as he handed Max the 'do' sign.

"Well, duh," Alix put in. "That girl's been crazy about you since we were fifteen." Then she took the 'me' sign without another word.

"Yeah," Kim agreed, before giving Adrien a smirk and taking the 'the' sign. "Not that you were much better."

Adrien felt a blush burn his cheeks. He couldn't even deny it. He'd always been head over heels for his Lady.

"Oh, it's so romantic, Adrien!" Rose excitedly gushed, hugging him in her delight. "Marinette is going to love it!"

"It's so rad," Juleka agreed.

He smiled at their enthusiasm, "Thank you. I hope she likes it. This is attempt five, so I'm hoping it's successful."

He handed Rose the 'honour' and Juleka the 'of' sign.

Nino looked at him in surprise. "Whoa, dude, what was attempt four?" His best friend asked, not knowing Adrien tried anything else after their phone call than his current plan.

"We don't talk about attempt four," Adrien said quickly.

"Jeez, what hap-"

"We don't talk about attempt four."

"What attempt four?" Nino said, changing his tune. "There was no attempt four."

Adrien smiled, "Exactly. Just like there wasn't a Last Airbender movie or-"

The entire class groaned, each of them voicing their own protests at being reminded of that letdown of a film.

Adrien laughed and handed Mylène the 'becoming' sign. "Are you nervous, Adrien?" She asked.

Adrien smiled as he noticed Mylène's eyes flick to Ivan as she asked the question. He hoped they would be getting engaged soon. "Yeah," he answered. "I've been nervous every time. It's scary, but it's a good kind of scary."

"What's there to be afraid of?" Kim asked. "It's not like Marinette would say no."

"Yes, but there's always that fear of rejection," Ivan said, shooting Adrien an understanding look.

Adrien sent him a thankful smile, glad that someone knew how he was feeling. He also took it as confirmation that Ivan wanted to ask Mylène to marry him. He wordlessly nodded to Ivan as he handed him the 'my' sign.

Then Adrien turned to Nathaniel, the last person in their group.

"She really will love it," the shy artist said, accepting the 'wife?' sign. "I can't wait to see her reaction."

Adrien beamed at him, "Thanks, Nath." He turned the rest of their group. "Okay, you guys get into position and I'll go get Mari."

"You really did pick a wordy proposal, dude," Nino said as they all put themselves in the correct order.

Adrien self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I had to have a word for each of you."

His friends all simply smiled at his response.

"Marinette … Well, you know how well she's gets on with Chloé, and by extension Sabrina," Adrien went on. "And despite growing up with Chloé, she and I haven't been close in years. Plus, we both have an odd relationship with Lila."

(Odd was an understatement. But Adrien couldn't explain their weird relationship with Lila without going into the Volpina incident and identity shenanigans, so 'odd' it was).

"But you guys?" He continued. "You guys mean the world to us. Hell, you were the first group of friends I ever had. Of course I'd want you to be a part of this. Hence, the long-worded proposal."

A silence followed his words. It was long enough that Adrien awkwardly began to shuffle his feet. Did he make it weird? He made it weird, didn't he?

"Sunshine child," Alya announced, breaking the quiet.

He looked at her in confusion, "Huh?"

"Sunshine. Child," she repeated.

His friends all murmured and nodded along in agreement.

"What?" He asked.

"It's stuff like that why you're called the sunshine child," Alya explained.

Nino pulled him in for a hug, all the while holding his 'you' sign. "My best bro," he said dramatically. "Too good for the world. Too pure."

Once again, the others just nodded in agreement.

Adrien broke out into a laugh. He hadn't made it weird, after all.

He pulled away from his best friend's clutches. "You guys are the greatest," he told them all. "You guys wait here; I'll go get Princess."

Swallowing his nerves, the darted off towards his (hopefully) future in-laws bakery. As he went, he heard Rose coo, "He still calls her Princess, that is so cute!"

Well, of course he still called her that. She was his Princess. His Lady. His partner. His Marinette.

And hopefully, someday soon, his wife.

He composed himself at the bakery door before walking inside. Sabine was serving a customer, while Marinette and Tom were talking behind the counter.

They both turned to him when he walked in. "Adrien!" Tom called out warmly. "Nice to see you!"

Sabine finished serving the customer, who promptly left, and she turned to him. "Hello, Adrien, dear. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Sabine," he said.

(And man, didn't it take a long time for him to break the habit of calling Marinette's parents Mr Dupain and Mrs Cheng? Thankfully, now he could comfortably call them by their first names).

"I'm just here to steal Mari from you," he continued. "There's something I want to show her."

He made sure he was standing behind his Lady before he discreetly nodded at her parents. 'I'm asking her now', he hoped the nod portrayed. It must have, because he saw understanding flash in Tom and Sabine's eyes before they absolutely beamed at them.

"Okay!" They chorused in barely-restrained enthusiasm.

Marinette looked at him and he could tell by her expression that she thought he was getting her so they could go battle an akuma.

"It's a surprise," he told her. "A good one, I promise."

Adrien watched as the tension left her body and she smiled at him in relief. "Alright," she said, before turning to her parents. "Maman, Papa, we'll be back."

"Have fun!" Her parents called as they walked towards the door of the bakery. Adrien turned to shoot them a smile over his shoulder as he went; they sent him encouraging smiles and thumbs up in response.

Marinette really did have amazing parents.

"So there's really no akuma?" Marinette asked once they'd made it outside the bakery.

"No, no," he replied. "I really do just have a nice surprise for you."

She slipped her hand into his as they walked. "Oh, and what's the occasion?"

"Do I need a reason to give my Lady a nice surpurrise?"

Marinette groaned, "That was awful."

"You mean pawful?"

"Nooooo."

"You can't complain! You pun all the time!"

"I do no such thing!"

They laughed as they crossed the street (because it was true, Marinette did like to pun and she enjoyed his puns; she would just never admit it). They made it to the park, hands intertwined and lost in their own little world. Marinette had yet to notice their group of friends, who were all waiting to hold up their signs at Adrien's signal.

He took a deep breath and spoke, "My Lady, there's been something I've been wanting to ask you."

She stopped walking to listen to him, no doubt picking up on his serious tone of voice. "Adrien? Are you alright?"

He waved away her concern, "I'm fine. Really. I just … Really want to ask you this, that's all. I've tried a few times to ask you, but it hasn't worked out. To be honest, I think my Chat Noir bad luck is playing into it."

She laughed, "You're not that unlucky, Minou. What is it?"

He took another deep breath. This was it.

"Marinette, I love you," he said. "I've loved you for years and-"

He was interrupted by the sound of screaming.

"AKUMA!" Came the frightened shout of civilians running for cover.

Are you kidding me?! Adrien thought in frustration.

"Damn you, Papillon!" He said aloud.

Seriously, he couldn't have waited another five minutes?!

Marinette immediately into superhero mode. "We need to find somewhere to transform!"

She made to dash for the cover of some trees, but stopped at the sight of their old classmates. "What are you all doing here?"

In perfect and never to be repeated unison, their friends all hid their signs behind their backs and said, "Nothing."

If there wasn't an akuma on the loose, Adrien was sure Marinette would be more concerned about their friend's strange behaviour.

(Adrien himself just felt like face-palming at their antics; his friends certainly weren't sly, that was for sure).

"You need to get to safety!" Marinette said, clearly disregarding the weird actions of their friends. "It's dangerous out in the open!"

With that, she grabbed Adrien's hand and dragged him to a secluded place to transform.

"Tikki!"

"Plagg!"

"Transformez moi!"

As he and his Lady rushed off to save Paris, Chat couldn't help but feel a bitter mix of frustration and disappointment welling up inside him.

How hard was it to propose to your girlfriend?!

He mentally sighed.

However, his pushed his negative feelings aside to focus on the battle ahead. Paris needed him, Ladybug needed him, and he would help no one by being as distracted as he was.

Attempt five: Failed.

Akuma: Defeated.

Damage: Restored.

Bien joué!

After they'd defeated the akuma and turned back into their civilian selves, Marinette had inevitably asked about what Adrien wanted to say in the park.

He thought about his friends, who had all presumably scattered during the attack, and concluded that his plan had well and truly gone down the proverbial toilet.

"You know what?" He said, quickly thinking up a new idea. "Let's give Tikki and Plagg a chance to recharge and then suit up again. There's something I want to show you."

To Marinette's credit, she didn't pester him for details while they waited for Tikki and Plagg to finish their cookies and camembert. However, Adrien could tell she was practically bursting at the seams to find out what Adrien wanted to show her.

When their kwami's were ready, they transformed and Chat led her along the Parisian rooftops.

"Where are we going?" Ladybug called to him as they went.

"You'll see," was his vague response.

His Lady groaned at being given such little information, but followed him regardless.

Chat eventually stopped on the roof of a building. It seemed like they were simply at a random street, but Chat could tell that his partner knew exactly where they were.

"This is where we first met," he said, a little unnecessarily. "I was walking across the street on my staff."

"I fell out of the sky and crashed into you," Ladybug said, smiling at the memory. "We got tangled up in my yoyo."

"I called you Miss Maladroit."

She laughed, "Well, nothing has changed there."

"I beg to differ, Buginette. You have always been the picture of style and grace."

Ladybug simply laughed again, "You're not fooling anyone, Chaton. I'm as clumsy outside of the suit as ever."

"It's an endearing trait, I assure you," he said. "But come on, there's more things I want to show you."

He led her to the stadium where they battled Stoneheart; they stood on its roof, staring down at the green field where the fight took place.

"This is where we battled our first akuma," Chat said.

Ladybug cringed at the reminder of how she failed; a look on guilt passed over her features. "I didn't purify the akuma. It just made everything worse."

"We had a rough start, but we fixed it. Besides, we both made mistakes that day. Or do you forget how I used Cataclysm on the goals instead of the akuma?" Chat said comfortingly. "My point is that this was our first fight, our first team up."

A small, tentative smile appeared on Ladybug's facing, chasing away her guilty expression. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, it was, and we only got better."

"We did," Chat agreed. "We were just finding our feet here."

A comfortable, contemplative silence fell over them as they thought back over that day.

"I thought you were mad," Chat eventually said.

"Hey!" His Lady protested indignantly, shoving him in the shoulder.

"Mad awesome!" He said, putting his hands up in acquiescence.

"And you were just a silly little minou, charging in with reckless abandon."

He laughed, "Could you blame me? I'd just become a superhero!"

She shook her head in fond exasperation, "And nothing's changed there, either."

"Excuse you," Chat said, clutching at his chest dramatically. "You wound me, my Lady. I'd like to think I'm a bit better than my teenage self."

Ladybug reached out to cup his cheek in her hand. "Yeah, you are, Chaton," she said, before leaning in to press a quick kiss to him lips. "Now, do you want to tell me why you're dragging me around Paris?"

Chat thought he was doing well, up until that point.

He'd kept his nerves in check, he wasn't shaking, he wasn't babbling or blurting out nonsense. He had a plan, he knew what to say and he wasn't turning into a mess.

But one quick peck from Ladybug and his composure was broken. Shattered. Crushed into a thousand tiny little pieces.

Oh, yes, there were the nerves. They were back.

Hello darkness, my old friend, he thought morosely.

No, no, no. He could do this! He could!

He took a moment to compose himself. "Not yet," he said, answering her earlier question. "I have a few more places I want to show you. Follow me!"

Chat took off across the Parisian rooftops. He knew Ladybug was following him from the tell-tale sounds of her yoyo zipping as she swung through the sky and running feet as she ran and jumped over obstacles.

He led her to the Eiffel Tower, where he sat on one of the beams and waited for her to catch up.

"You know, I think you're just leading me on a cat and mouse chase across the city," she said as she arrived and sat down beside him.

The civilians on the Tower excitedly pointed at them and starting taking photos; Chat paid them no mind. His Lady had all of his attention.

He smirked at her, "A cat and bug chase?"

She groaned, "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

He laughed, "That you did." His laughter died down as he looked out at the city before them and thought of what to say next. "But this place? This is where we really did defeat our first akuma. Where you promised the people of Paris that'd we'd always be there to protect them and I vowed that whoever was under your mask, I'd love them."

"Chat-"

"This was where Volpina had an illusion of you and was going to drop her," he continued. "Where I realised I was in love with you and thought I was in love with two separate people. I can't believe I didn't realise the two most amazing girls in my life were just the one person."

"To be fair, I didn't realise it either," she said.

He smiled at her, "You realised it first."

"Only because you said something that gave yourself away."

"Regardless, the reveal started here," he said, before standing up. "Speaking of which, if you'll follow me, my Lady, there's one more place I'd like to show you."

He held out a hand to help her up and within moments, the two were soaring through the Parisian skies.

He led her back to her parent's bakery. Chat landed on her balcony and with practiced ease, opened the trap door to her room and went inside.

He and Marinette had been living together for some time, so Tom and Sabine had turned her old bedroom into a guest room, but that was beside the point. What mattered was the place.

He transformed back into Adrien as Ladybug came falling through the trap door; there was a flash of pink light and Marinette stood in her place.

Before doing anything else, Adrien gave Plagg some cheese and Marinette gave Tikki a cookie she'd been saving in her purse.

"Thanks for doing that for me, Plagg, Tikki," Adrien told the tired kwamis.

"It's alright, Adrien!" Tikki chirped through a mouthful of chocolate chip cookie.

"You got it, kid," Plagg said. "Just go ask her already."

"Ask me what?" Marinette enquired.

This was it.

No interruptions this time.

He could do this.

He checked his pocket. The ring was there. Good.

Adrien took her hands in his. "This is attempt six at this so-"

"Attempt six?" Marinette asked in confusion.

"Please, my Lady, just bear with me."

Marinette fell silent and nodded at him to continue.

"I'm sure you've noticed all the places I took you to today," Adrien said. "The place we first met, where we had our first akuma battle, where we captured our first akuma, where I first realised I love you. Both sides of you, I mean." He gestured to the room where they were standing. "And this is the place that we first kissed. Before you say anything, no, I'm not counting the time with Dark Cupid, because, unfortunately, I can't remember that one. But here? Here is the place where we had our first real proper kiss, where our identities were revealed and we could be together for the first time without any secrets in the way."

He paused to take a breath and compose himself, gentling tucking on of Marinette's stray hair's behind her ear as he did so. It was a soft, innocent gesture, but he hoped she didn't notice how his hand shook as he did it.

"But, Marinette," he continued. "I don't just want firsts with you. I want firsts and lasts and everything in between. I want to wake up with you every morning, I want to save Paris with you every day, I want to continuously lose to you at Ultimate Mecha Strike, to put you to bed when you've fallen asleep over a sewing project, or bring you coffee when you need to stay up. I want Emma, Louis and Hugo, someday, when we're older. There are so many things that I want, Mari, but what it comes down to … What I've wanted since the first day that I met you … is you."

"Adrien," she said in a choked up voice, her eyes filling with tears.

"So what I'm asking, my Lady … What I've attempted to ask five other times, is if you want me too?"

Even as he went down on one knee, and pulled the ring and it's box out of his pocket, Marinette was already nodding. Tears were streaming down her face, but she was nodding.

He took that as a good sign.

Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but Marinette beat him to it.

"Yes," she said, smiling widely. "Yes, yes, Adrien, yes!"

He beamed at her, his heart soaring. But he couldn't help the teasing smile that appeared on his face as he said, "Buginette, you haven't let me ask the proper question."

"Ahh, yes!" Marinette exclaimed, her arms flailing everywhere. She did that cute thing where she framed her head with her hands when she panicked or got over excited. "Yes! Okay! Shutting up so you can ask. Yes. The answer is yes. Yes."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. God she was cute, and beautiful, and funny, and smart and kind. And she said yes! He hadn't even asked her properly and she said yes!

"Marinette," he said, "Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" She all but shouted as soon as he had asked the question. "Yes, Adrien, I'll marry you! Yes!"

She held her hand out and Adrien slipped the ring on her finger.

"It's beautiful!" She gushed as she looked at it. "Thank you so much, Chaton!"

"No, Princess," he said as he climbed back to his feet. "Thank y-"

But that was as far as he got, because as soon as he was standing, Marinette had pulled him in for a passionate kiss. It was a difficult feat, because they were both smiling too much to really kiss the other, but they managed it.

Adrien was vaguely aware of Tikki and Plagg calling out their congratulations, or of the happy tears he could feel running down his face. But all that mattered to him was Marinette. His fiancée (he could say that now! His fiancée!) Marinette, and the happiness that was going to be their future together.

Attempt six: Successful.

Author's Note:

Hoooo boy. This one has been bouncing around my head for months!

It feels good to finally get it out and posted. It feels like it's taken me forever.

I have so many ML fic ideas, it's ridiculous. I'll be working on one fic and then get an idea for another. It's like, 'Calm down, brain! I can only write so much at once!' Does anyone else have that problem?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this fic. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you thought in the reviews!

Much love,

Leisey.