A/N: New year! Same update schedule. Very late! Haha, self-deprecation humor.

Hope you all had a very festive, warm, and exciting holidays. Time to come down from that cookie coma and get right back into some Miraculous Bug Ladies...wait...

If you didn't read the last chapter, which I hope you did because why skip to the end, Adrien and Marinette were going to do what they're most terrible at. Talk about their feelings! Don't worry, they get better. This'll be the last chapter for the story, I meant for it to be a one-shot originally anyway. It kind of just ended up being multiple chapters. Oops.

Stifling creative energies aside, let's get this fluff show on the road! Enjoy.

DID Chapter 3: I'm With You

"So...Where do we go from here?"

Marinette knew this question absolutely had to be asked, so why was she still not ready for it? Adrien stared expectantly at his best friend, not pressuring, just waiting for her own genuine response. She looked down at her feet, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow in an attempt to figure out how to frame her ideas just right. It was kind of a relief Adrien was so patient with her. After all, he knew more than anybody Marinette had issues stumbling over her words near him almost as much as she physically stumbled over everything.

Trying her best, she had nothing to offer him. One of her hands went to rubbing her temples, trying to massage at least one good sentence out of her jumbled thoughts. Even though she had gotten plenty of sleep since yesterday's 'incident', she couldn't be more tired now. Marinette really didn't need this.

"I don't know. I guess we could just go back to business as usual? We're still partners after all."

Adrien sighed, clearly not satisfied with her answer.

"Marinette, I'm not just talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir. I'm talking about us. Me, you, Chat, Ladybug, all of it! I don't know about you, but trying to act like this didn't happen would be pretty difficult. Especially knowing what we both know."

Here he goes. Adrien Agreste is very good at one thing, that was sending Marinette reeling every time he spoke. She thought just saying they were partners and everything would be fine would hopefully put him at ease. Thinking about it, that was incredibly weak. Her whole being was still in 'Dodging Confrontation' mode. She had to agree, even if her sad solution did work, one simply wouldn't be able to brush the fact away they had been fighting alongside their crush unknowingly. Protecting Paris from constant looming threat, putting yourselves in harm's way, having to kiss your best friend if the need arises. Dark Cupid...that's right, she did actually kiss Adrien once. Shit.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know you always look to me for ideas, but this time...I don't know. Everything that happened just...snowballed. It got worse and it was all so fast and-!" Marinette let out a sigh while she was ahead. She was rambling like always. Slow down. Breathe. Take your time. Adrien - Chat - knows you. He just wants an answer. She pulled her head up to try staring at his neutral expression. "I don't know. I want us to get back to how we were, but there's so much between us. I just want you to know that...I'm sorry. I'm not mad, yesterday wasn't your fault. I know you were stressed, I was completely stressed out too. I just took it out on you when I didn't mean it. I don't hate you."

Holding the unreadable neutral expression, he couldn't help but pique an eyebrow up in curiosity.

"You don't?"

"No. Of course not. Kitt-Adrien. I could never hate you."

There were several seconds of silence in which they just stared at the other. Marinette's a mixture of worry and grief next to Adrien's blank face. Eventually, Adrien let out another sigh as Marinette heard him mutter.

"Well, that's a relief."

He looked away and smiled shyly at the ground. The smile was short lived, sobering up quickly and turning his gaze back to Marinette.

"Since we got that established, how about we take this one at a time. What do you think about...us?"

"Us?"

"Yeah. Me and you. Adrien and Marinette."

Right. Ladybug and Chat Noir were an unbreakable team. Sure, an identity reveal and a small fight shook up their normal banter and light hearted mirth. But they can adapt, move forward, push onward and continue doing what needed to be done for the good of Paris. Their civilian identities were the linchpin that directly affected their alter egos. And right now, it featured two very awkward teenagers confused about their feelings. Especially now considering the words that so graciously rolled out of the blond boy's mouth yesterday.

Marinette would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate the extra attention that Adrien decided to give to her and Alya as of recent. The first few days had her practicing stifling squeaks that would put fangirls at a boyband concert to shame and rebooting her consistently failing brain when noticed by him. Much like during the Kung Food akuma, proximity became an incredibly helpful ally to the designer. She stopped stuttering, she became more coherent and less prone to sudden accidents, as much as she could considering she is THE Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and the ability to hold down entire conversations with him that included minimal embarrassment in just a few weeks.

The progress they made continued on and on without stopping. She got everything she ever wished, and in the last few months she learned more about Adrien she would ever need for years to come. Obviously too much considering recent events. Marinette could definitely recite various fun facts about Adrien's various likes/dislikes and small quirks as confident and sure as Adrien probably could. She had harsh competition, but vying for the coveted title of Adrien Agreste's best friend was a possibility. (Sorry, Nino.) Now if only she hadn't been so desperate to upgrade that friend status to girlfriend.

"Honestly, I don't want to lose what we have. Me and Alya were ecstatic, mainly me," She added shyly, "When you and Nino wanted to hang out more, that was probably the best decision ever. Getting to talk with you has been great and we've come a long way." Adrien stared into Marinette's blues as he noticed the bright gleam in her eye as she spoke. "I'm really glad we're friends now, this whole situation is just really crazy and...I guess I need time to adjust."

A swell of emotions overtook Adrien, she wanted to be friends, even more of his fears were pacified. Hand going up to scratch his neck nervously.

"I'm glad...I'm really glad. I think...deciding to take better care of myself as Adrien was the best decision I ever had, honestly." Adrien couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. It was downright infectious, Marinette mirrored his warm smile with her own. "Don't get me wrong, I've talked with you and Alya before, but once me and Nino started to involve you guys, I learned nearly everything I wanted to know about you two. Even if you were a little bit shy at first."

Adrien's teasing brought a little heat to her cheeks. His little jab made Marinette giggle, even though she was supposed to be offended.

"Adrien!" She managed to whine out through her chuckles.

Adrien allowed himself to grin at this. They needed these kind of moments to help ease the tension. Light carefree teasing that was present in their civilian and hero lives.

"Alright, I'll be fair. I mentioned 'Alya' to Nino and he got really excited until he realized he would actually have to be around her for extended periods."

Marinette's eyebrows raised. "Is that why he tried so hard to impress Alya when we ate lunch together that first day?"

Adrien failed to stop the laughing fit that came to him at the memory of the DJ being on edge the entire lunch break. Trying incredibly hard to get Alya's attention with jokes and stories. "I thought I was the only one who noticed. It was so obvious."

Marinette shrugged and offered up a sly smile. "He didn't really have to try hard. Al is always so bold and brash. But once I mention a certain boy in a ballcap, she hits the wall, hard."

Adrien laughed even harder at the mention of their hopeless friends. Shaking his head at their various antics, those two definitely had chemistry, they were just too blind to see it. Blind like a certain couple had been for a long time now. Him being one part of it. He cleared his throat and looked away nervously.

"Speaking of that, I had another question. A related question."

Marinette dropped her smile to look curiously at him.

"What do you want me to be?"

"What?"

Adrien seized up and leaned forward off the desk he half-sat on. As he paced the room, he tried explaining himself, Marinette tracking him the whole time.

"I'm just-I'm really sorry if I come off as rude. But I just want to know where I stand. Because I basically spilled my heart out to you back during the akuma attack. That was also after accidentally eavesdropping on you in the lockers about your crush on me. I've been thinking about how I flirted with Ladybug for so long without knowing about you or you knowing about me. And-and I've probably didn't notice all the times you tried to get my attention when all I did was focus on Ladybug. And...I just, feel kind of lost."

He stopped in front of the window, letting his arms fall at his side as he stared out into the semi-busy Paris streets. Marinette took this time to stand up herself and head to where he stood, taking her place next to him.

"Adrien?"

Adrien turned to her and stared once more into her eyes. Trying to gather the words to explain his feelings to her.

"Marinette, how long have you had a crush on me?"

The girl was taken back by the sudden question. Her face burned with an instant influx of pink and even though she thought the stutter had been conquered, it manifested itself again while she stumbled out an answer.

"W-well. Um...t-that-"

She halted when she felt his hand back on her shoulder. Adrien's face held sympathy and understanding, nodding at the girl to continue. Marinette composed herself with a deep breath.

'No more stuttering. Talk it out girl!'

"Back during your first real day of school. When we first met and I didn't know you that well. When I thought you and Chloé were trying to pull some sort of prank with the little gum incident." She heard Adrien mutter a 'Thanks for reminding me.' and allowed herself a little smile. "Originally, I thought you were just another person who got their kicks off making others feel miserable. And at that point, I had it with always being lumped together with bullies and, excuse me, asses that are a part of every single one of my school years."

Adrien let that sentence sink in for a bit. Chloé and Marinette definitely had a history that went deep at this point. But did Marinette used to have bullies that weren't just Chloé? He made sure to make a mental note to make a list and find anyone who tried picking on his lady before. If they were still up to no good, maybe Chat Noir might be able to 'teach' them to respect their fellow peers.

"But then it was the end of the school day after the day we beat Stoneheart. I was standing there without an umbrella and you were heading to catch your car. You did something I didn't expect, apologizing and offering your umbrella. After that, I saw you in a new light. My emotions would go haywire everytime I'm around you and I would never be able to snap out of it. Even mentions of your name would make me nervous. I wanted to know more about you, more about that kind, selfless and amazing boy that gave up his personal comfort for someone he started off on rocky ground with."

Adrien had been deeply moved my Marinette's words. Considering everything they knew, everything that happened, how close they had recently been. He had to try very hard to contain it all inside of him. It was astounding how much love she had for him.

"Of course, that was before how much of a dork I figured out this Europe famous model was that adored bad jokes and watched enough anime to be able to quote whole episodes."

Marinette's crack caused a bit of mood whiplash, instead of tears of wonder, Adrien tried desperate now to not laugh so hard he cried himself incomprehensible. The designer let him calm down before she reflected the question.

"What about you? You said back in the cocoons you had a crush on me as Marinette. When did you find out?"

Adrien sobered, wiping the ghosts of tears from the corners of his eyes and holding his stomach from doubling over in hysterics.

"When? I guess it had to be a few months back. We were on lunch break one day and Alya wanted to go somewhere. So we followed her and found a sandwich cafe we never tried before. We ordered our food, sat down, and we were just talking about whatever came to mind around the table. Alya asked about some of your recent designs and so you started explaining the process. I didn't know what it was about you at that time, but the way you talked so passionately about what you loved and something about how excited you got. I guess...I saw parts of Ladybug in you and my heart started beating, heavily. Even though we were friends at that point and we knew so much about each other, I wanted to know...more. I wanted to be alone with you and talk about everything and anything."

It was Marinette's turn to be stunned. Damn.

If there was one thing Marinette realized after connecting Adrien to Chat, and vice versa, it was that the cat ended up being very good at rendering her speechless. Sometimes in less agreeable circumstances, most of them involving Chat's sense of wordplay, and sometimes in amazing ways. Marinette silently decided that this had to be one of her favorite times.

"Then I was planning on how to sneak you out on a date. Which led to the akuma, the reveal, and now the reason we're standing in this classroom. So, Marinette…"

Dull green held blue again.

"I want to know where you want to go with this. If you want to remain friends, if you want to start dating, or if you want nothing to do with me, that's fine too. Do you still have a crush on me?"

Marinette barely took a split second to think. Throughout it all, mask or not, Adrien was still Adrien. Chat Noir was a part of him and she accepted it. Much like Ladybug was a part of Marinette that Adrien fell in love and almost out of love to pursue Marinette. Only to find himself caught in the trap and falling back in love with a part of her that he was more than willing to accept.

"Adrien, yes. I do have a crush on you still."

Without a smile, Adrien's eyes still sparkled and a pleasant wave of heat rolled across him.

"Wait. Really?"

Marinette shook her head 'Yes' in confirmation.

A hopeful grin turned the corners of his mouth skyward. "So, that means you still want this Europe famous dork? The cat ears aren't a turn off?"

"Yes. Yes, Adrien. My feelings haven't changed, I still have a crush on that same dork that I ended up becoming friends with. And if making something out of it means I have to put up with a few more unbearable cat puns than usual. So be it." Marinette turned to the side and murmured under her breath without thinking. "Beside, the cat ears are a turn-on if anything."

Marinette chuckled at herself for the small joke, not registering Adrien's shocked expression. Before he let out an exclamation.

"Wait a minute! What was that?"

Marinette snapped back to Adrien, excitement mixed with a shit-eating grin adorned his face. "What was what?"

"What you just said. I caught that! Something about cat ears and turn-ons?"

The designer blanched. Crap, did he hear that? Did she say that out loud? Stupid kitty cat and his stupid heightened sense of hearing and his stupid pretty face and stupid ears that heard words exclusively meant to be said in her head.

"No. No. Nope. Didn't say that."

Adrien's joy at this point was through the roof, not even his smile was enough to convey just how much this moment meant to him.

"Princess. Did you maybe, possibly have a small crush on Chat Noir?"

Marinette avoided eye contact at all costs. Her eyes darted back and forth in an attempt to look inconspicuous as she crossed her arms and did more defensive pouting.

"I did not!"

Trying her hardest not to look, she couldn't contain herself after he had been silent for a whole half a minute. That same grin did not change.

"You know, Buginette, for someone who has to lie everyday for an excuse to protect her identity, you are really terrible at it sometimes."

Adrien unexpectedly pounced forward wrapping his arms around Marinette's waist and pulling her close to rub the side of his face against her, like an actual cat.

"This is the best day ever! My lady ended up having a crush on me. TWICE! I am so happy."

He started jumping up and down with the petite girl in her arms. Marinette shouted protests for Adrien to put her down and stop being so loud, just in case someone came to check the classroom due to the noise. But even she could barely manage to force them out through the laughter at how happy this crowning moment made her partner. Eventually the laughter died down and he graciously set his lady back down on the ground. The two were still coming down from their euphoria as they collected their abandoned backpacks and ushering the kwami wrapped up in a conversation of their own back into the bags.

They walked over to the door of the room, Marinette reached for the handle and was about to turn it before an outburst from Adrien stopped her.

"Wait!"

She turned in surprise to him, eyes wide and curious.

"What? What's wrong now?"

Adrien scratched his head and, with one hand in his pocket, rocked back and forth on his feet.

"Since we're going to try this whole couple thing. Would you like to go out on a date soon?"

Shooting her a nervous smile, Marinette shook her head.

"Chaton, did you really need to ask?"

Using her free hand, she booped her partner on the nose and gave him a wry smile. All he could do was smile back and stare.

"Now come on, if we don't grab something quick to eat and get back, we'll be late for class."

Two days passed by since The Talk. Alya and Nino poked fun at them for at least a day after for their strange behavior before in class. Besides offering to walk Marinette home, her and Adrien hadn't acted any closer than usual in front of everybody. Because of this relentless teasing, Marinette was able to concoct a brilliant plan overnight. When Adrien asked back in the classroom if she wanted to go on a date, she realized he had been so flustered he didn't specify a time. What time like the present?

Thankfully, there was no sign of Alya or Nino out front when her and Adrien arrived outside of the school entrance. Marinette and Adrien entered the school like any other day. Only they walked the halls slightly closer as Marinette leaned into Adrien to whisper to him.

"Adrien! I have a little plan to get back at Alya and Nino for teasing us the other day. When we break for the lunch period, just follow my lead."

They broke apart and entered the class, saying nothing else. Adrien was left slightly confused not being given anything else as a gameplan but "Wing it!". Class dragged on slower than usual, students peeled out in droves to enjoy the free time given before the afternoon. Eventually, the class emptied until it was just the four of them. Perfect.

"Psst, Alya."

The blogger let out a quiet 'Mmm?" as she watched Marinette stand and sling her backpack with a random wicked grin.

"Watch this."

Marinette took the stairs down and came around to stand in front of Adrien's desk. Him and Nino finished gathering their things and were ready, but stopped to talk. Conversation was cut short when the small raven haired girl cleared her throat to get their attention. When Adrien turned to her, all bets were off, it was game time.

"Hey there, hot stuff. I know you're usually pretty busy during lunch, but I know such a handsome gentleman such as yourself wouldn't mind accompanying a lady like me?" Nino and Alya broke in sync. Too bewildered at the events unfolding before them to try interrupting. Alya didn't even make a grab for her camera yet. Marinette couldn't help but think she may have gone too far. Adrien was with them for at least a few seconds, not used to the uncharacteristic words coming out of her mouth, but then he remembered the plan. Oh...she was good.

"Well now, I guess I could clear my schedule for such a fine lady. After all, it would be an absolute shame to turn a beauty like you down when you asked so nicely." Adrien stood up and slung his bag as he offered his arm. Marinette linked her arm in his, making sure to give a flamboyant wink in the direction of her two shocked friends.

"Since you said yes, I know the perfect place we could go to share a coffee and a meal. Maybe even share a little something else, if you catch my drift."

"But of course! Lead the way, my breathtakingly gorgeous princess."

Arm in arm, the two moseyed to the door, not giving a second thought to the friends left behind in the classroom. They didn't move, make a sound, they barely breathed for at least a minute after they were long gone. Nino was the first to recover, looking toward Alya for guidance.

"Dude, what just happened?"

"Did-Did you-Did you see their fac-AHA HA HA!"

"OHHHHH. Oh my-Nino's face, his eyes just went...WOOSH. AHHH"

The duo swayed with hysterical laughter out of the school, unable to calm down while they kept reminding the other how well the plan had gone. Leaning on one another, they calmed down and Marinette took his hand and started walking.

"Alright, let's get going."

The small girl felt herself get tugged back, stumbling from the force she managed to somehow catch herself before falling down. She quickly figured out that it was Adrien pulling her.

"Wait, hold up. You were serious?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be? You said you wanted to try dating. Putting on that show in front of Alya and Nino was just payback. Now come on or else you're paying for both of our lunches."

Marinette pulled Adrien again, this time the taller blond allowing himself to be dragged before falling into a walk next to Marinette.

"My lady, you are truly awesome."

He'd pay for both their meals anyway.

Things were good. Great, even. The day flew by after lunch, which had to the absolute highlight to her afternoon. After knowing where they stood and being very clear about the fact, Marinette was more than willing to get past the awkwardness that came with the initial shock. But when the realization kicked in that she was sharing a lunch date with the Adrien Agreste, her long time crush that moonlights as an accidental advocate for borderline fetish material, the voice in her head screaming that this would end badly cropped up as they passed through the doorway to the small restaurant.

Marinette ended up pleasantly surprised that it didn't. The conversation was slow going at first, but both sides quickly warmed up to it. Talking just like they had before as friends, minus the inclusion of Alya and Nino at the table. They lapsed into superhero-esque banter at some points, which ended up being better as it was honestly something they were used to doing. All in all, it ended up feeling like before, natural and honest. Two best friends enjoying an hour away from everything. Though the date also did feature quite a bit of flirting from each person that could obviously be considered crawling out of 'Friend' territory.

Now for the least favorite moment of her day and probably various other student's. Homework. Lots of it. Marinette settled into her room early with plenty of snacks for her and Tikki, digging through her bookbag and stacking the assignments high on her desk. No point in letting this work intimidate her, better to dig in her heels and take care of it now. Take care of it she did! For the amount of work on her desk, the other assignments were such non-issues that everything took less than an hour. Everything except this grueling physics homework.

Marinette was decent at math and science, decent enough. Physics was a different beast entirely. And as she sat staring at the assigned questions in the textbook for tonight, she couldn't help but feel lost in the jumble of numbers and words and ideas. She glanced at the clock. 6:43 p.m. She could see it getting dark outside as the sun went away. It was edging slowly closer to nighttime and she was nowhere near done as when she started before the sunset. Marinette had an idea at one point to ask her kwami for assistance. But even with being millennia old, Marinette couldn't imagine she'd have a better grasp on the subject than her.

'If only I had a little help.'

Marinette's concentration on the page in front of her wavered when she heard the tap-tapping of something against glass. Her window being the one thing in her room able to be the one source of that sound. Quickly redirecting her focus on her window, she looked out toward the dark orange-hued cityscape. Now what the hell made that sound and why didn't she see anything? Her mind went down the list of possibilities, suggesting things like a lost bird, rogue tree branches. When her eyes caught the briefest hint of motion in the top left corner, she wished it would be anything else than the actual culprit. Twitching infrequently and blending in with the slowly darkening night sky was the triangle of a cat's ear.

Pushing her chair away, the cat ear twitched in response from the noise and retreated away. Marinette crossed the room and climbed the stairs to her bed where she unlocked the trapdoor, pushing it up and open.

"Geronimo!"

Before she had a chance to move away, a black blur with a shock of yellow thrown in flew by her field of view. Said blur landed surprisingly quiet against her floor and rolled forward with momentum before her window-tapping suspect ended the acrobatics with his arms high in the air like he had finished a gymnast routine at the olympics.

"That was ok, entirely unnecessary, but kind of cool."

Chat responded to Marinette's critique, whipping his head around to meet her. With a little flourish of a spin, he turned the rest of his body to face her.

"Princess, your long awaited knight has arrived."

Marinette almost scoffed in response to Chat's antics. She really didn't need this clingy alley cat. She was supposed to be focusing on Physics homework right now. Physics homework that was not being worked on currently.

"Chat, we literally just saw each other not three hours ago. I wouldn't exactly say long-awaited."

Not dropping his smile, he went into an overly emphasized bow.

"Ah, maybe not for you. But this cat simply couldn't bear with the pawnishment of not being able to see you again."

Pawnishment? Really?

"Punning now? Alright, I appreciate you came all this way. But I'm a bit busy right now. Go home, kitty!" Marinette pointed to the trapdoor. Not puns. She couldn't handle puns now. She would take endless physics problems against a single Chat Noir pun any day of the year.

Dropping his regal bow, he put one gloved hand over his mouth in mock surprise, dropping to his knees and holding his palms up to the bothered girl as he mimicked being on the verge of tears.

"What is this, Princess? Are...are you saying you don't need your Knight-In-Shining-Leather anymore?"

Shaking her head, she went back to her rolley chair, taking her seat with an amused smile tugging at her lips. "Maybe, but honestly it's more like a Dork-In-Shining-Leather."

Chat frowned from the comment, dropping his arms limply to his side.

"Cold, my dear lady. Cold."

Hopping to his feet, Marinette picked up her pen again and tried to get back into the problem she left off on. Though it became at least ten times more difficult with a giant cat hovering on your shoulders. What the hell was so interesting about tangential velocity again?

"What'cha got there, Mari?"

"Well, until I was so rudely interrupted by a certain someone trying to win a gold medal for Paris…"

"Pfft. Everyone's a critic."

"I was trying to finish the last of my homework. I'm kind of stuck on these problems and referring back to this three hundred dollar textbook all the time hasn't helped at all. What about you? Why are you transformed? I thought we agreed no patrols on Thursday."

"Well, I-Um." He managed growing sheepish with each passing second. "I wasn't kidding when I joked about not seeing you again. I just…really wanted to spend some more time with you, I guess."

Marinette put her pen back down and had to stare at the softie next to her. Shaking her head again, something she knew would quickly become a habit with his behavior.

"Adrien, we were on a date not too long ago, and you already want more time with me? That's called being clingy, kitten." She reached up to teasingly pinch his cheeks, him pulling away and swatting at her hand.

"Ah, come on bugaboo. Don't tell me you don't want some personal time with yours truly?"

Shooting him up a sly smile, she countered, "Well, I never said that, but these problems are due tomorrow and if sacrificing a cuddle session will allow me to keep my grade point average, so be it."

Chat leaned on her, clearly forgetting the first rule about personal space as he scrunched Marinette into her chair, scanning her work already done.

"Is this...Physics?"

Pushing Chat up and off her, she straightened up, reaching for her notebook and cradling it protectively.

"Yes, yes it is."

Placing his claws on his hips in the stereotypical hero pose, Chat reverted back to his usual dramatic self.

"It's a good thing I came when I did, Princess. Your brave, strong, and oh so charming jungle cat here happens to be an excellent tutor in all things physics. In fact, I happen to have absolutely purrfect marks in that class. I'll stay by your side if it means helping my fair maiden slay these staggering conundrums."

Marinette knew it going to be one of those nights.

"You really don't want to go home, do you?"

"Nnnnnope~" He drawled with a pop on his 'P' sound. Marinette sighed and turned back to finish a question.

"Okay. If you really do want to stay, once I finish this physics homework, you can get comfortable and let Plagg rest while we watch a movie, or something."

She heard the small gasp behind her followed by an incredibly happy whisper of "You mean it?!"

"Sure. I'll warn you, I've been on the same question for the last ten minutes, so it might take a little while before-"

"The answer to number seven is two V over X." Chat ended up promptly cutting her off as he walked off to another part of the room. Marinette's mouth stopped moving and she looked back at the problem. Concentrating on her answer and looking at it, she realized that was exactly what she was missing in her problem. He must have just finished this homework before heading over here.

"God dammit, Chaton…"

Weeks passed by since the two figured it out, and they couldn't be any happier. With time and many subsequent dates, in and out of costume, they fell into a natural rhythm together. One that, after the stunt they pulled on Alya and Nino, became impossible to hide to their two friends, much less the whole class. Everyone acknowledged the fact they were an item now, various bets around the classroom were paid in full, Chloé screamed for only ten minutes and vowed to tear Marinette apart for only five. Everything was right with the world.

Today, Marinette was sitting in Nino's seat with Adrien. The group often organized these seat swaps, mainly Nino and Marinette. It happened so often sometimes that Nino swore Marinette had partial ownership of his original seat. He would complain more, if it weren't for the fact he got to sit next to Alya so often. Now if only she would stop cooing at the happy couple in front of them.

Nino wasn't the only one with objections to the seat change. Though she really didn't specify there was assigned seating, Ms. Bustier had a list of complaints she could make about the sudden change-up in class. Mainly that with the problems she's had before with the model and designer being that they would talk throughout the lesson and disrupt her class. After a while, it was so common that she stopped trying to split them up. She did have one rule she issued to them, however. Cause one incident during her lesson, and she would have no problem enforcing assigned seats.

Other than that, everything seemed normal again, with the exception of their costumed alter ego lifestyle. Everything was just fine.

BOOM!

Except for that explosion. The force of the blast shook the foundation of the school, startling the students. When the windows shattered and fine little pieces rained into the room, the class took cover behind and under the desks.

"Alright everyone. This is clearly an akuma attack. Stay calm and remember the evacuation procedure."

Evacuation procedure be damned, everyone gathered whatever they could of theirs and rushed out the classroom. Ms. Bustier following behind, trying to keep an eye on everyone and keep them together. What she didn't know was that in her haste she was currently missing two students. One of which popped up from under a desk back in the classroom, taking a survey of the now empty classroom before ducking back down to meet his unphased girlfriend.

"Classroom empty?"

"Yep, I think Madame Bustier was the last one out."

"She's going to be wondering where we are soon."

"Yep."

"You think Hawkmoth will ever get bored of this?"

"Nope."

Adrien lifted up his shirt to let Plagg out of his inner pocket while Marinette released the clasp on her purse to which Tikki came flying out.

"You people are way too calm about this." Plagg criticized.

"What can we say? Comes with experience." Adrien quipped back.

"Well, I hope that experience will be enough to defeat that akuma out there. This one sounds pretty fearsome." Tikki added. Right on cue, the announcing of the akuma's grand entry muffled slightly by the layers between them, came through the window.

"My name is The Collector! I will complete my collection no matter the cost. Everything else is simply trash to me! But first, where are Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

Adrien and Marinette looked back at each other.

"Looks like that was our cue, Chat."

"Right. But before we go, our excuses."

"Okay, we wanted to go with the group, but the explosion was so frightening that by the time we discovered the class was empty, we thought it'd be much smarter to hide."

"Reason why we didn't hear everybody leave is because the explosion was also really loud. Caused some hearing loss." Adrien suggested.

"Kind of a stretch, but it could work. If the class comes back before we do?"

"Say we were trying to find the class but got split up by the akuma."

"I can say I was hiding in the girls restroom and you were looking all over for me after the attack."

"Purrfect, my lady."

Marinette jokingly hit Adrien's arm for the insufferable pun and beamed at him. Yep, same as it ever was.

"Ready?"

"Always, bug."

With one look at their kwami's the pair got ready to save the day yet again.

"Tikki, spots on!" "Plagg, claws out!"

A/N: Awww. Look at em, two kids finally happy and going to beat the snot out of an akuma. Those kids'll be alllllright.

I'd like to thank everyone for the support in writing this. I also appreciated for those who followed me as an author from this fandom. You guys won't be disappointed in the future. I'm planning out some big things. I also got a bit of life stuff to deal with in between writing these. But once I get free of that, there'll be nothing stopping me from devoting more time to the two stories I have in the writing process. Stay tuned, you're gonna like what you see. Anyway...R & R